August 30, 2013
Friday – Year of Faith – Ordinary Time
by Rev. Fr. Leo Nilo
C. Mangussad, - Rector, Shrine of Mary Queen of Peace (Our Lady of Peace Quasi
Parish/EDSA Shrine)
12:15pm mass at the EDSA Shrine
12:15pm mass at the EDSA Shrine
Brothers and sisters, we earnestly ask and exhort you in the
Lord Jesus that, as you received from us how you should conduct yourselves to
please God– and as you are conducting
yourselves– you do so even more. For you
know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
This is the will of God, your holiness: that you refrain from immorality, that each of you know how to acquire a wife for himself in holiness and honor, not in lustful passion as do the Gentiles who do not know God; not to take advantage of or exploit a brother or sister in this matter, for the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you before and solemnly affirmed. For God did not call us to impurity but to holiness. Therefore, whoever disregards this, disregards not a human being but God, who also gives his Holy Spirit to you.
This is the will of God, your holiness: that you refrain from immorality, that each of you know how to acquire a wife for himself in holiness and honor, not in lustful passion as do the Gentiles who do not know God; not to take advantage of or exploit a brother or sister in this matter, for the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you before and solemnly affirmed. For God did not call us to impurity but to holiness. Therefore, whoever disregards this, disregards not a human being but God, who also gives his Holy Spirit to you.
R. (12a) Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice;
let the many isles be glad.
Justice and judgment are the foundation of his throne.
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
before the LORD of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim his justice,
and all peoples see his glory.
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
The LORD loves those who hate evil;
he guards the lives of his faithful ones;
from the hand of the wicked he delivers them.
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
Light dawns for the just;
and gladness, for the upright of heart.
Be glad in the LORD, you just,
and give thanks to his holy name.
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice;
let the many isles be glad.
Justice and judgment are the foundation of his throne.
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
before the LORD of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim his justice,
and all peoples see his glory.
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
The LORD loves those who hate evil;
he guards the lives of his faithful ones;
from the hand of the wicked he delivers them.
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
Light dawns for the just;
and gladness, for the upright of heart.
Be glad in the LORD, you just,
and give thanks to his holy name.
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
Gospel Mt
25:1-13
Jesus told his disciples this parable: “The Kingdom of heaven
will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the
bridegroom. Five of them were foolish
and five were wise. The foolish ones,
when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks
of oil with their lamps. Since the
bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
At midnight, there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise ones replied,
‘No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’ While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked. Afterwards the other virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ But he said in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”
At midnight, there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise ones replied,
‘No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’ While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked. Afterwards the other virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ But he said in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”
HOMILY
Once there was a mother who told her
son to take care of the cheque that they were supposed to receive as payment
for rent. But even after a week, the son wasn't able to do so. The mother then
said, "What are we going to do? We do not have money anymore for our food,
because you failed to get the cheque for the rent." The boy replied,
"Don't worry mom, I'll do it tomorrow." To which the mother said,
"Yes, you can do that, but tomorrow is a Saturday, and all the banks are
closed. We will still not have money to buy food."
Procrastination. The action of trying to prolong or postpone something, and do what we want, instead of doing what we need to do, has now become a usual thing happening to us and our children. Procrastination - you wait until the exam is tomorrow before you study. We wait until the deadline before we do it. And it is always happening nowadays. The Lord is trying to remind us on the importance of promptly doing what we should, before matters get worse, before we lose the chance of achieving or accomplishing our goal, before it is too late.
If we cannot do that here on earth, what more with the things of heaven? Just like the ten virgins, the five ones were wise - they did not wait until the last minute to bring in oil - but the other five procrastinated.
It is good to look deep inside our hearts. What is the most important thing that I should do now, instead of later? As the saying goes, "If you follow the road called 'I'll do it later', you'll end up in the house of 'never'.
Procrastination. The action of trying to prolong or postpone something, and do what we want, instead of doing what we need to do, has now become a usual thing happening to us and our children. Procrastination - you wait until the exam is tomorrow before you study. We wait until the deadline before we do it. And it is always happening nowadays. The Lord is trying to remind us on the importance of promptly doing what we should, before matters get worse, before we lose the chance of achieving or accomplishing our goal, before it is too late.
If we cannot do that here on earth, what more with the things of heaven? Just like the ten virgins, the five ones were wise - they did not wait until the last minute to bring in oil - but the other five procrastinated.
It is good to look deep inside our hearts. What is the most important thing that I should do now, instead of later? As the saying goes, "If you follow the road called 'I'll do it later', you'll end up in the house of 'never'.
