DAILY- HOMILY

DAILY-HOMILY

DECEMBER 25, 2005
CHRISTMAS, SOLEMNITY OF THE LORD'S BIRTH

ISAIAH 52:7-10
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad
tidings, announcing peace, bearing good news, announcing salvation,
and saying to Zion, "Your God is King!" Hark! Your sentinels raise a
cry, together they shout for joy, for they see directly, before
their eyes, the LORD restoring Zion. Break out together in song, O
ruins of Jerusalem! For the LORD comforts his people, he redeems
Jerusalem. The LORD has bared his holy arm in the sight of all the
nations; all the ends of the earth will behold the salvation of our
God.

HEBREWS 1:1-6
Brothers and sisters: In times past, God spoke in partial and
various ways  to our ancestors through the prophets;  in these last
days, he has spoken to us through  the Son, whom he made heir of all
things  and through whom he created the universe, who is the
refulgence of his glory, the very imprint of his being, and who
sustains all things by his mighty word. When he had accomplished
purification from  sins, he took his seat at the right hand of the
Majesty on high, as far superior to the angels as the name he has
inherited is more excellent than theirs. For to which of the angels
did God ever say: "You are my son; this day I have begotten you"? Or
again: "I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me"? And
again, when he leads the firstborn into the world, he says: "Let all
the angels of God worship him."

JOHN 1:1-18
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.  All things came to
be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be
through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race;
the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome
it.  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. The true light,
which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the
world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not
know him. He came to what was his own, but his own people did not
accept him.  But to those who did accept him he gave power to become
children of God,  to those who believe in his name,  who were born
not by natural generation  nor by human choice nor by a man's
decision but of God. And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling
among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father's only
Son, full of grace and truth. John testified to him and cried out,
saying,  "This was he of whom I said,  `The one who is coming after
me ranks ahead of me  because he existed before me.'" From his
fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace, because
while the law was given through Moses,  grace and truth came through
Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at
the Father's side,  has revealed him.

REFLECTION
In our world today and especially in our country, where there is so
much suffering both from natural calamities, such as earthquakes,
typhoons, and floods, and from lawlessness of people, the danger is
for us to despair. Those who can afford migrate to other countries,
others complain and criticize, but do nothing.  Still others resort
to violent means, thereby creating more problems and sufferings. 
What we need today are people of hope, who follow Jesus' example of
love, service, and self-sacrifice.

The English writer John Ruskin left us with a beautiful image of
what Jesus wants us to be in our world.  In Ruskin's time,
electricity had not yet been discovered.  City streets were lit at
night by gas lamps.  City lamplighters had to go from lamp to lamp,
lighting them with a flaming torch.

One night, when Ruskin was a very old man, he was sitting in front
of a window in his house.  Across the valley was a street on a
hillside.  There, Ruskin could see the torch of the lamplighter
lighting lamps as he went. Because of the darkness, Ruskin could not
see the lamplighter.  He could see only his torch and the trail of
lights it left behind him.  After a few minutes, Ruskin turned to
the person next to him and said:

"That's a good illustration of a Christian.  People may never have
known him.  They may never have met him.  They may never even have
seen him.  But they know he passed through their world by the trail
of lights he left lit behind him."

Christmas is an invitation for each one of us to be for our world
what Jesus was for his world: a beam of light in the midst of
darkness, a ray of hope in the midst of despair.  To the extent that
we heed the invitation of Christmas, to that extent will the world
receive the gift of Christmas: Peace on earth and goodwill toward
all.

PRAYER
"Lord our God, with the birth of your Son, your glory breaks on the
world. As we celebrate his first coming, give us a foretaste of the
joy that you will grant us when the fullness of his glory has filled
the earth."

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
- for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
- in thanksgiving: all those who passed the recent nursing board
exams in Manila.
- for the eternal repose of the soul of Bert Pascual.  Eternal rest
grant unto him and may perpetual light shine upon him. May he and
all the souls of the dearly departed rest in peace.
- for the continued & speedy recovery of Mike Torres.
- for the enlightenment and conversion of Armando.
- for the continued good health of Elsa & Paolo.
- for the personal intentions of Cha.
- for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Jaime M. Felizardo
- Prayer Intention: Friends of James & Gloria Yu
- Wedding Anniversary: Jeanette & Christopher Chan
- Wedding Anniversary: Mary & Christopher S. Lim
- In Memoriam: Victoriana Variacion
- 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!

# posted by F O O D F O R T H O U G H T @ 3:42 AM 0 comments