Saturday, December 10, 2005
3RD SUNDAY OF ADVENT
3RD SUNDAY OF ADVENT
DAILY-HOMILY
Dec 10 2005
DECEMBER 11, 2005
3RD SUNDAY OF ADVENT ? B
ISAIAH 61:1-2, 10-11
The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed
me; he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to
the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the LORD and a day
of vindication by our God. I rejoice heartily in the LORD, in my
God is the joy of my soul; for he has clothed me with a robe of
salvation and wrapped me in a mantle of justice, like a bridegroom
adorned with a diadem, like a bride bedecked with her jewels. As the
earth brings forth its plants, and a garden makes its growth spring
up, so will the Lord GOD make justice and praise spring up before
all the nations.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-24
Brothers and sisters: Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all
circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in
Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophetic
utterances. Test everything; retain what is good. Refrain from every
kind of evil. May the God of peace make you perfectly holy and may
you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless for the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful,
and he will also accomplish it.
JOHN 1:6-8, 19-28
A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to
testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was
not the light, but came to testify to the light. And this is the
testimony of John. When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and
Levites to him to ask him, "Who are you?" He admitted and did not
deny it, but admitted, "I am not the Christ." So they asked
him, "What are you then? Are you Elijah?" And he said, "I am
not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No." So they said to
him, "Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us?
What do you have to say for yourself?" He said: "I am the voice of
one crying out in the desert, make straight the way of the Lord, as
Isaiah the prophet said." Some Pharisees were also sent. They asked
him, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ or Elijah or
the Prophet?" John answered them, "I baptize with water; but there
is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming
after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie." This
happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
REFLECTION
A non-believer once asked a Christian, "You said you are a
Christian. Then where the devil is your joy?" In a more recent
time the question was asked again in a magazine article. "Why We
Feel So Bad When We Have It so Good." Or, as one Jesuit author puts
it, "Why is the Good News, no longer good and no longer news?"
Today's liturgy confronts the problem head on. The opening prayer
hits the point: "Lord God, may we your people, who look forward to
the birthday of Christ, experience the joy of salvation." There are
three powerful words in this opening prayer: Salvation? Joy?
Experience.
For joyful reading this Advent, sacrifice today's best sellers,
instead, read the four Gospels at leisure. Find out where the
Gospels locate joy, where God's inspired Word tells us to look for
joy. Make this a personal Christmas shopping, a gift to ourselves.
First, in the Gospels, joy is linked with life, especially new
life. An angel promises joy in the birth of John the Baptist. When
John is born, Elizabeth's neighbors rejoice with her. With child in
her womb, Mary rejoices in God her Savior. The birth of Jesus
is "good news of great joy."(Luke 2:10) A mother no longer
remembers her anguish "for joy that a child is born into the
world."(John 16:21-22) The Father of the Prodigal Son calls for
rejoicing because "this my son was dead and is alive again." (Luke
15: 24) LIFE!
Second, in the Gospels, joy is linked with discovery. There is the
man who "hears [God's] word and immediately received it with
joy;"(Matt. 13:20) the man who finds a treasure and with joy sells
all to buy it; the shepherd who rejoices when he finds a straying
sheep. There is joy of the woman discovering the lost coin, the joy
of the 72 disciples discovering that demons are subject to them, the
joy of Jesus, because the childlike have discovered their God.
There is the father of the prodigal summoning his elder son to
joy "Because your brother was lost and has been found."(Luke 15:31)
DISCOVERY.
Third, in the Gospels, joy is linked with suffering. The disciples
are to rejoice when slandered and persecuted. When hated and
outlawed for Jesus' sake, they are to "leap with joy." And when
Jesus' disciples are told to take up their cross everyday, surely
they are to do so with joy in their hearts. SUFFERING.
Fourth, in the Gospels, joy is linked most especially with Jesus,
the fullness of joy. John the Baptist's joy is "complete" because,
as the bridegroom's "best man," he prepares Israel for Jesus. Only
if the disciples abide in Jesus' love, and if they ask it in Jesus'
name will their joy be complete. When we see Jesus again, it will
bring a joy no man will take from them. In Jesus' risen presence
the disciples are so joyful they can hardly believe what they see ?
JESUS.
This brings us back to the opening prayer: "May we your people, who
look forward to the birthday of Christ, experience the joy of
salvation." ? the joy of salvation.
Salvation is what we have just uncovered in the Gospels: Salvation
is Jesus ?joy ?discovery ?life ?suffering.
Salvation is Jesus. Salvation is God's only Son becoming one of
us. It is a stable in a little town of Bethlehem, a baby lying
helpless in a manger, sucking at a mother's breast. It is the boy
Jesus learning from Joseph how to make a plow, learning from Mary
how to love God. It is the Jesus the man - hungry, weary, lonely.
It is God's Son sold for thirty pieces of silver, crowned with
thorns, whipped like a dog and nailed to a cross. Salvation is
simply, as St. Paul's exclaimed, "He loved me and gave himself ? for
you and for me."
Salvation is discovery. Salvation is finding Christ at work, as St.
Ignatius said, like a laborer, in every creature he has fashioned,
working in the billions of stars to which Christ brings to
existence; in the many varieties of plants which he gives life; in
the animals to which he gives senses; in that mind of ours to which
he gives intelligence; in that heart of ours into which he infuses
love. Salvation is Christ, not on a majestic throne in heaven, but
everywhere, in every nook and corner of his universe, alive not only
yesterday but each moment of each creature's existence. The world
is charged with the presence and grandeur of Christ, with the labor
of Christ ? FOR YOU AND ME.
Salvation is life. Salvation is three divine Persons alive, active
and energizing us. It is new life, a new creation, through
repentance and reform, God murmuring to us, "I forgive you; go in
peace." Salvation is life within our family what the early
Christians called "a little Church," with Christ the unseen guest.
It is the life within this community, loving one another loving less
fortunate sisters and brothers as Jesus loves us.
And yes, salvation is a cross. It is many a cross, erected over
history, over you and me. For salvation is following the footsteps
of Christ, wherever he may lead. It is a journey to Jerusalem, and
the road is rough, rocky with pain, twisting and turning where we
never expected. Yet even here, and especially here, we touch
salvation; for it is in dying that the Christian rises to new Christ-
life, dying to sin, dying to self, dying the countless deaths that
dot a human life, all the loves and pains we offer to God as years
move on.
Very simply, salvation is now and every moment we live. But our
opening prayer is not satisfactory enough to explain that salvation
is a joyful reality. We need to experience that joy. What Advent
asks of us is that we experience the story of salvation.
The famous philosopher, Jacques Maritain insisted that the high
point of knowledge is not brilliant idea; it is an experience: I
feel God. This is what God's grace wants to do for each and all of
us. Today, let us pray for an Advent grace beyond compare ? perhaps
address our prayer to her, who first held this infant in her arms.
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PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray ?
- for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
- for the good health for baby Luke.
- healings for Paula, Debbie, Cindy R, Peggy O, Rich M.
- In thanksgiving: Maria Alyssa Martina.
- for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- for world peace and reconciliation.
Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our
prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.
Have a good day!
***************************************************************
Welcome to DAILY-HOMILY, a Catholic-based Scripture and Homily
Reflection. It is a great source for scripture reading and
reflectionfor Weekdays, Sundays and Holydays of Obligation. Subscribe
to this list and you will receive a free, informed, down to earth and
illustrated homily. It's a FREE service.
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Feel free to forward this to your friends, family and associates!
© 2005 Daily-Homily
SATURDAY 2ND WEEK OF ADVENT
DECEMBER 10, 2005
SATURDAY 2ND WEEK OF ADVENT - YEAR I
SIRACH 48:1-4, 9-11
In those days, like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijah whose
words were as a flaming furnace. Their staff of bread he shattered,
in his zeal he reduced them to straits; By the Lord's word he shut
up the heavens and three times brought down fire. How awesome are
you, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds! Whose glory is equal to yours?
You were taken aloft in a whirlwind of fire, in a chariot with fiery
horses. You were destined, it is written, in time to come to put an
end to wrath before the day of the Lord, To turn back the hearts of
fathers toward their sons, and to re-establish the tribes of Jacob.
Blessed is he who shall have seen you and who falls asleep in your
friendship.
MATTHEW 17:9, 10-13
As they were coming down from the mountain, the disciples asked
Jesus, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" He said
in reply, "Elijah will indeed come and restore all things; but I
tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize
him but did to him whatever they pleased. So also will the Son of
Man suffer at their hands." Then the disciples understood that he
was speaking to them of John the Baptist.
REFLECTION
Elijah, the man of God in whom both Bible readings today find unity,
mysteriously foreshadowed John the Baptist in many ways. The return
of Elijah was discussed in ancient Jewish tradition. Today's first
reading from the book of Sirach, also known as Ecclesiasticus, which
was written about 200 years before the first Christmas, speaks about
this tradition in magnificent poetic statement.
In saying that Elijah has returned, Jesus is referring to John the
Baptist. John's first public appearance was in the desert near the
Jordan, the very place venerated by the memory of Elijah. John the
Baptist was the censor, the terror, and the warning to people, yet
he won people over by his utter simplicity. He told them plainly the
truth about themselves and forced them to own that he was right. He
did not draw them by soft inducements but by the harsh lash of his
words and by the solemn threat of doom that awaited those who would
not listen to his words. In his exhortations he distinguished true
heart conversion from the false conversion of conformity.
John the Baptist was, to put it bluntly, a fiery whirlwind in his
life style, vividly recalling Elijah's ascension into heaven a
whirlwind, carried away in a flaming chariot drawn by flaming
horses. Our ascension heavenward must reflect, at least to a degree
and according to our capacity, the same kind of holy urgency, in
other words, zealous anticipation of the Messiah's advent.
But John is not only a symbol. He is a dynamic model. He teaches us
discipline, mortification and repentance. There is to be no more
hiding behind excuses for our weak spiritual life. John warns us
with stark and unremitting directness. He exclaims: "Even now the ax
is laid to the root of the tree." And he does this not only by his
dramatic words but by his very life style, that of a herald's voice,
a voice that was silenced only by martyrdom, the offering of his
life for the faith that he proclaimed.
As we recall John the Baptist, not only his message but also the man
himself helps us considerably during our annual pre-Christmas
pilgrimage of grace. If we sincerely open up our hearts to his words
and his memory, we heighten our awareness of what Christ's coming
can mean for us, namely the beginning of a new life of grace. In a
sense, each Advent, this Advent, can constitute a renewal of
Baptism, through which our souls were first opened to the coming of
the Savior. Christ does not come empty-handed. He brings us divine
life. Christ is, after all, the supreme Gift-giver.
PRAYER
"Lord, stir my zeal for your righteousness and for your kingdom.
Free me from complacency and from compromising with the ways of sin
and worldliness that I may be wholeheartedly devoted to you and to
your kingdom."
PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray ...
- for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
- for the continued and complete recovery of Mike Torres.
- for the personal intentions of the Santos Family.
- for the eternal repose of the soul of Crispin Gonzales. Eternal
rest grant unto him and may perpetual light shine upon him. May he
rest in peace.
- for the personal intentions, forgiveness, peace and harmony of
Charles Conrad H. C and Cheryl P.C.
- for the good health for baby Luke.
- healings for Paula, Debbie, Cindy R, Peggy O, Rich M.
- In thanksgiving: Maria Alyssa Martina.
- for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Anya Celin T. Chu
- for world peace and reconciliation.
Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our
prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.
Have a good day!
***************************************************************
Welcome to DAILY-HOMILY, a Catholic-based Scripture and Homily
Reflection. It is a great source for scripture reading and
reflectionfor Weekdays, Sundays and Holydays of Obligation. Subscribe
to this list and you will receive a free, informed, down to earth and
illustrated homily. It's a FREE service.
***************************************************************
To subscribe or unsubscribe, tell friends about Daily-Homily, read past
reflection and feedbacks, give donation or submit a prayer request
please go to:
Webpage: http://homily.dailyfoodforthought.org/ Group Email:
dailyhom...@gmail.com To subscribe:
subscribe...@dailyfoodforthought.org To Unsubscribe:
unsubscribe...@dailyfoodforthought.org To post a Prayer Request:
prayer_requ...@dailyfoodforthought.org
PRAYER FOR ENLIGHTENMENT BEFORE MEDITATING ON GOD'S WORD:
http://www.marythequeen.org/
Feel free to forward this to your friends, family and associates!
© 2005 Daily-Homily
