Monday, July 22, 2013

Gospel Reflection



July 22, 2013
Monday – Year of Faith – Ordinary Time
Memorial of Saint Mary Magdalene
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 Ex 14:5-18

When it was reported to the king of Egypt that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants changed their minds about them. They exclaimed, “What have we done! Why, we have released Israel from our service!” So Pharaoh made his chariots ready and mustered his soldiersB six hundred first-class chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt, with warriors on them all. So obstinate had the LORD made Pharaoh that he pursued the children of Israel even while they were marching away in triumph. The Egyptians, then, pursued them; Pharaoh’s whole army, his horses, chariots and charioteers, caught up with them as they lay encamped by the sea, at Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

Pharaoh was already near when the children of Israel looked up and saw that the Egyptians were on the march in pursuit of them. In great fright they cried out to the LORD. And they complained to Moses, “Were there no burial places in Egypt that you had to bring us out here to die in the desert? Why did you do this to us? Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Did we not tell you this in Egypt, when we said, ‘Leave us alone. Let us serve the Egyptians’? Far better for us to be the slaves of the Egyptians than to die in the desert.” But Moses answered the people, “Fear not! Stand your ground, and you will see the victory the LORD will win for you today. These Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again. The LORD himself will fight for you; you have only to keep still.”

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. And you, lift up your staff and, with hand outstretched over the sea, split the sea in two, that the children of Israel may pass through it on dry land. But I will make the Egyptians so obstinate that they will go in after them. Then I will receive glory through Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots and charioteers. The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I receive glory through Pharaoh and his chariots and charioteers.”

Responsorial Psalm Ex 15:1bc-2, 3-4, 5-6

R. (1b) Let us sing to the Lord; he has covered himself in glory.
I will sing to the LORD, for he is gloriously triumphant;
horse and chariot he has cast into the sea.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
He is my God, I praise him;
the God of my father, I extol him.
R. Let us sing to the Lord; he has covered himself in glory.
The LORD is a warrior,
LORD is his name!
Pharaoh’s chariots and army he hurled into the sea;
the elite of his officers were submerged in the Red Sea.
R. Let us sing to the Lord; he has covered himself in glory.
The flood waters covered them,
they sank into the depths like a stone.
Your right hand, O LORD, magnificent in power,
your right hand, O LORD, has shattered the enemy.
R. Let us sing to the Lord; he has covered himself in glory.


On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.”

Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the Body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and then reported what he told her.

HOMILY

Sa araw na ito ay ipinagdiriwang natin ang ala-ala ni Maria Magdalena. At ano ang dapat nating malaman o mabatid tungkol sa kanya? Narinig natin sa Paunang Salita na siya ay galing sa isang bayan na ang pangalan ay Magdala, kaya Magdalena. Ito ay isa sa mga bayan sa dalampasigan ng Galilea.

'Yong ibang tao, iisiping siya 'yong babaeng makasalanan na nagpunas o naglagay ng olyo sa paa ni Hesus, pero hindi siya 'yon. 'Yong iba, ang aakalain ay siya daw ang kapatid ni Martha. Pero hindi ito totoo. Narinig natin na sa kanya ay tinaboy ni Hesus ang pitong demonyo, at siya rin ay sumunod kay Hesus hanggang sa paanan ng Krus, at hanggang sa Kanyang pagkalibing.

Ano ang isang bagay na mababatid pa natin sa kanya? Isang bagay lang ang tiyak. Hanggang kamatayan, hanggang sa libingan, si Maria Magdalena ay patuloy na nagmahal sa Panginoon. This is what is certain - that she is someone who loved Jesus deeply. At ito ay ating narinig at natunghayan sa ating Ebanghelyo, kung saan hinahanap niya ang nawawalang katawan ng yumaong si Hesus. Siya'y labis na nagmahal. At kung tutuusin, this is all that matters.

There was once a philosopher who told, "Immature love says 'I love you, because I need you'. But mature love would say, 'I need you, because I love you'." Mga kapatid, si Maria Magdalena, kinailangan niya ang Panginoon, bunsod ng pagmamahal. Sapagkat minahal siya ni Hesus, nang Kanyang itaboy ang pitong demonyo. Kailangan niya ang Panginoon dahil sa pagmamahal. At hindi siya katulad ng iba, na nagmamahal lamang sapagkat may kailangan.

Tayo - papaano tayo magmahal? Papaano tayo umibig sa kapwa at sa Diyos? Nagmamahal ba tayo sapagkat may kailangan tayo, o baka naman kailangan natin sila, dahil na rin sa gusto natin silang mahalin, at dahil sa pagmamahal na inuukol nila sa atin?

How do we love? How do we show our love, especially for Jesus?

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