Gospel Reflection

April 15, 2013

Monday – Year of Faith – Easter Season

by Rev. Fr. Prudencio 'Jun' T. Solomon, Jr., Parochial Vicar, Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Loreto Parish, Sampaloc, Manila

12:15PM Mass, Mary, Queen of Peace Shrine (Our Lady of Peace Quasi Parish/EDSA Shrine)

                         

Reading 1 Acts 6:8-15

Stephen, filled with grace and power, was working great wonders and signs among the people. Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen, Cyreneans, and Alexandrians, and people from Cilicia and Asia, came forward and debated with Stephen, but they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. Then they instigated some men to say, “We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.” They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, accosted him, seized him, and brought him before the Sanhedrin. They presented false witnesses who testified, “This man never stops saying things against this holy place and the law. For we have heard him claim that this Jesus the Nazorean will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.” All those who sat in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

Responsorial Psalm PS 119:23-24, 26-27, 29-30

R. (1ab) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
or:
R. Alleluia.
Though princes meet and talk against me,
your servant meditates on your statutes.
Yes, your decrees are my delight;
they are my counselors.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
or:
R. Alleluia.
I declared my ways, and you answered me;
teach me your statutes.
Make me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will meditate on your wondrous deeds.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
or:
R. Alleluia.
Remove from me the way of falsehood,
and favor me with your law.
The way of truth I have chosen;
I have set your ordinances before me.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
or:
R. Alleluia.

Gospel Jn 6:22-29

[After Jesus had fed the five thousand men, his disciples saw him walking on the sea.] The next day, the crowd that remained across the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not gone along with his disciples in the boat, but only his disciples had left. Other boats came from Tiberias near the place where they had eaten the bread when the Lord gave thanks. When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. And when they found him across the sea they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered them and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.” So they said to him, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.”

HOMILY

Mga ginigiliw kong mga kapatid, kung tatanungin po natin ang ating mga sarili at ang bawat isa, kung bakit kinakailangan nating magtrabaho, malamang isasagot natin na kasi ay kinakailangan nating buhayin ang ating sarili at ang ating mga minamahal sa buhay. Kung tatanungin din natin ang bawat isa kung bakit kinakailangan nating kumain, malamang ang ating itutugon ay sapagkat nais nating tugunan ang kagutuman ng ating pangangatawan, upang tayo ay maging malakas at malusog, At kapag itatanong din natin sa ating mga sarili at sa bawat isa rito kung bakit kinakailangan nating magpatulong, marahil ang isasagot natin ay sapagkat kinakailangan nating ipagpahinga ang ating mga pagod na katawan.

Ang mga sagot at tugon pong ito, kung titingnan po natin at pagninilayang mabuti, ay mga tama at sapat na dahilan kung bakit natin ginagawa ang isang bagay, upang maisakatuparan ang isang bagay.

Mga kapatid, sa ating Ebanghelyo ngayon ay narinig natin na si Hesus ay hinahanap at sinusundan ng mga tao. At ito'y napansin din ng Panginoon, at Kanyang sinabi, "Sinusundan ninyo Ako, hinahanap ninyo Ako, hindi dahil sa mga nakita ninyong mga tanda, kundi dahil sa kayo ay nabusog, at nais pa ninyong makatanggap ng dagdag. Nakita ng Panginoon kung ano ang kanilang kadahilanan, at 'yon ay para lamang mapunan ang kanilang pangangailangan. Ngunit sinabi Niya sa kanila na huwag ang pagkain na inyong pangangailangan ang inyong hanapin, kundi ang pagkaing nagbibigay-buhay.

Tayo, ginigiliw kong mga kapatid, ay hinahamon ng Ebanghelyong ito. Bakit tayo naririto? Bakit tayo nasa loob ng kapilyang ito, sa loob ng simbahang ito? Bakit tayo nagdiriwang ng banal na misa, at sa init ng araw ay nagpupunta tayo rito upang makilahok? Why are we here, together celebrating the Eucharist? Ano ang tama at sapat na kadahilanan kung bakit tayo naririto? Ito ba ay dahil sapagkat mayroon tayong pangangailangan? O ito'y sapagkat nais natin na tanggapin ang Kanyang pagliligtas o ang buhay na walang hanggan?

Mga kapatid, ano ang ating kadahilanan kung bakit naririto tayo? Ikalawang katanungan - tama ba, sapat ba, ang kadahilanang ito?