Gospel Reflection

January 20, 2014

Monday – Ordinary Time

by Fr. Carmelo Esteban, Monfort Missionaries
5:30PM Mass, Mary, Queen of Peace Shrine (Our Lady of Peace Quasi Parish/EDSA Shrine)

Reading 1 1 sm 15:16-23

Samuel said to Saul: “Stop! Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night.” Saul replied, “Speak!”  Samuel then said: “Though little in your own esteem, are you not leader of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king of Israel and sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and put the sinful Amalekites under a ban of destruction. Fight against them until you have exterminated them.’ Why then have you disobeyed the LORD? You have pounced on the spoil, thus displeasing the LORD.” Saul answered Samuel: “I did indeed obey the LORD and fulfill the mission on which the LORD sent me. I have brought back Agag, and I have destroyed Amalek under the ban. But from the spoil the men took sheep and oxen, the best of what had been banned, to sacrifice to the LORD their God in Gilgal.” But Samuel said: “Does the LORD so delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obedience to the command of the LORD? Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission than the fat of rams. For a sin like divination is rebellion, and presumption is the crime of idolatry. Because you have rejected the command of the LORD, he, too, has rejected you as ruler.”

 

Responsorial Psalm ps 50:8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23

R. (23b) To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,
for your burnt offerings are before me always.
I take from your house no bullock,
no goats out of your fold.”
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?”
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?
Or do you think that I am like yourself?
I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.”
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.

 

Gospel mk 2:18-22

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast. People came to Jesus and objected, “Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day. No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, its fullness pulls away, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse. Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”

HOMILY

Ang pinaka-issue dito sa Gospel ay hindi ma-recognize ng mga tao na si Hesus nga ang Messiah. They did not believe in Jesus, they did not have faith in Him. That is why the people loved to compare Jesus with other religious leaders.

As we all know, by virtue of our baptism, all of us have been given the gift of faith. Faith is a gift that has been freely given to us by God. Hindi po natin ito hiningi. Faith connects us to God, and God to us. Ano man po ang mangyari ay hindi po ito mawawala sa atin. Hindi nga po ito nawawala, ngunit ang tungkulin ng Simbahan at ng Liturhiya ay palaguin at pagtibayin ang ating pananampalataya, at gamitin natin ito. Hindi ito palakihan o paramihan, dahil kapag sinabing faith, gaano man kaliit ito, kapag ito ay ginamit, ito ay effective.

Nabanggit ko ito sapagkat makikita ninyo na nitong nakaraang taon, tayo ay nilindol, binagyo, ngunit makikita ninyo ang tibay ng pananampalataya ng ating mga kababayan. Kahit na masira pa ang mga simbahan ay hindi masisira ang ating pananampalataya. Buhay na buhay ang ating faith. But we must remember that there are forces, both external and internal, temptations and challenges that may shake our faith. Therefore, we must be aware of these forces and keep our faith strong.

At paano natin gagawin ito? Kailangan nating pakinggan at isabuhay ang Mabuting Balita. Ito ang hamon ng Liturhiya sa atin. Habang isinasabuhay natin ang Mabuting Balita, mapapansin natin na mayroong pagbabago sa atin. And this is what God wants from us - to change for the better. Ngunit ito ay nakasalalay din sa atin. Kahit kagustuhan ng Diyos, kung ayaw naman natin ay hindi rin mangyayari. God already knows our weaknesses but if He sees us making an effort to change, we will receive God's graces.

In our First Reading, we can see Saul whom God loved so much. Kaya lang noong nagtagal, naging mapagmalaki si Saul. Saul thought that his ways were better than the Lord's. Eventually, God was angry at Saul and he was replaced by another king, who is David. This is an example of disobedience and lack of faith in God. Nawa sa misang ito ay makita natin kung paano pakinggan at isabuhay sa araw-araw ang Mabuting Balita.