October 03, 2012
Wednesday
- Weekday
by Rev. Fr. Nilo Mangussad (Rector Our Lady of Peace Quasi-Parish)
by Rev. Fr. Nilo Mangussad (Rector Our Lady of Peace Quasi-Parish)
Mass at EDSA Shrine, Our Lady of
Peace Quasi-Parish
Reading 1 Jb 9:1-12, 14-16
Job answered his friends and said: I know well that it is
so; but how can a man be justified before God? Should one wish to contend with
him, he could not answer him once in a thousand times. God is wise in heart and
mighty in strength; who has withstood him and remained unscathed? He removes
the mountains before they know it; he overturns them in his anger. He shakes
the earth out of its place, and the pillars beneath it tremble. He commands the
sun, and it rises not; he seals up the stars.He alone stretches out the heavens
and treads upon the crests of the sea. He made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades
and the constellations of the south; He does great things past finding out,
marvelous things beyond reckoning.
Should he come near me, I see him not; should he pass by, I am not aware of him; Should he seize me forcibly, who can say him nay? Who can say to him, "What are you doing?" How much less shall I give him any answer, or choose out arguments against him Even though I were right, I could not answer him, but should rather beg for what was due me. If I appealed to him and he answered my call, I could not believe that he would hearken to my words.
Should he come near me, I see him not; should he pass by, I am not aware of him; Should he seize me forcibly, who can say him nay? Who can say to him, "What are you doing?" How much less shall I give him any answer, or choose out arguments against him Even though I were right, I could not answer him, but should rather beg for what was due me. If I appealed to him and he answered my call, I could not believe that he would hearken to my words.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 88:10bc-11, 12-13, 14-15
R. (3) Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
Daily I call upon you, O LORD;
to you I stretch out my hands.
Will you work wonders for the dead?
Will the shades arise to give you thanks?
R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
Do they declare your mercy in the grave,
your faithfulness among those who have perished?
Are your wonders made known in the darkness,
or your justice in the land of oblivion?
R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
But I, O LORD, cry out to you;
with my morning prayer I wait upon you.
Why, O LORD, do you reject me;
why hide from me your face?
R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
Daily I call upon you, O LORD;
to you I stretch out my hands.
Will you work wonders for the dead?
Will the shades arise to give you thanks?
R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
Do they declare your mercy in the grave,
your faithfulness among those who have perished?
Are your wonders made known in the darkness,
or your justice in the land of oblivion?
R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
But I, O LORD, cry out to you;
with my morning prayer I wait upon you.
Why, O LORD, do you reject me;
why hide from me your face?
R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
Gospel Lk 9:57-62
As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding on their journey,
someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus
answered him, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the
Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head." And to another he said,
"Follow me." But he replied, "Lord, let me go first and bury my
father." But he answered him, "Let the dead bury their dead. But you,
go and proclaim the Kingdom of God." And another said, "I will follow
you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home." Jesus
answered him, "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was
left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God."
HOMILY
Do you still remember the story of
the boy who fell over a cliff and was holding on to a branch or a root? That
boy who was screaming for help because he did not want to fall, that he
called the Lord and said, "Lord, help me!" And he heard a voice
saying, "Let go of the root." Then he asks, "Is there anybody
else up there?" The boy did not want to let go of the root. But when he
felt so tired, he had no choice but to let go. And lo and behold, he was just
one foot away from the ground.
Moral lesson: listen and trust in
the words of the Lord. See, a lot of us always say we trust God, but
when it comes to the problems regarding our life here on earth, we start not
trusting Him. We begin to trust ourselves. Quite unfortunate, because we
are being assured by God that He will help us definitely - true and
through. He only asks us to trust Him definitely - true and through.
Unfortunately, we falter because we rely on ourselves here on earth. Just like
Job in the First Reading, he faltered. Just like the potential Disciples in the
Gospel, they faltered. Why? Because, they trusted other things, rather than
trust in the Lord. But Jesus has shown us - He demands our full trust
absolutely. Why? It is because He will help us absolutely. Until we realize
this truth, we will never put our trust in the Lord.
My brothers and sisters, the Lord
says, "Trust Me, that it will not rain this afternoon." (when it has
been raining so hard today) Would you believe Him? The true test of faith is
- If the Lord says so, it will be so. But if you do not want to
believe Him, you have already lost our God.
