Thursday, February 02, 2006
FRIDAY 4TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
FEBRUARY 3, 2006
FRIDAY 4TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - YEAR II
SIRACH 47:2-11
Like the choice fat of the sacred offerings, so was DAVID in Israel.
He made sport of lions as though they were kids, and of bears, like
lambs of the flock. As a youth he slew the giant and wiped out the
people's disgrace, When his hand let fly the slingstone that crushed
the pride of Goliath. Since he called upon the Most High God, who
gave strength to his right arm To defeat the skilled warrior and
raise up the might of his people, Therefore the women sang his
praises and ascribed to him tens of thousands. When he assumed the
royal crown, he battled and subdued the enemy on every side. He
destroyed the hostile Philistines and shattered their power till our
own day. With his every deed he offered thanks to God Most High, in
words of praise. With his whole being he loved his Maker and daily
had his praises sung; He added beauty to the feasts and solemnized
the seasons of each year With string music before the altar,
providing sweet melody for the psalms So that when the Holy Name was
praised, before daybreak the sanctuary would resound. The LORD
forgave him his sins and exalted his strength forever; He conferred
on him the rights of royalty and established his throne in Israel.
MARK 6:14-29
King Herod heard about this, for Jesus' name had become well known.
Some were saying, "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead,
and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him." Others
said, "He is Elijah." And still others claimed, "He is a prophet,
like one of the prophets of long ago." But when Herod heard this, he
said, "John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!" For
Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him
bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his
brother Philip's wife, whom he had married. For John had been saying
to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." So
Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But
she was not able to, because Herod feared John and protected him,
knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John,
he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him. Finally the
opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his
high officials and military commanders and the leading men of
Galilee. When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she
pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, "Ask
me for anything you want, and I'll give it to you." And he promised
her with an oath, "Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my
kingdom." She went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask
for?" "The head of John the Baptist," she answered. At once the girl
hurried in to the king with the request: "I want you to give me
right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter." The king was
greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests,
he did not want to refuse her. So he immediately sent an executioner
with orders to bring John's head. The man went, beheaded John in the
prison, and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to
the girl, and she gave it to her mother. On hearing of this, John's
disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
REFLECTION
King Herod Antipas best exemplifies the kind of person who has
nothing but fear of Jesus. His name may be associated with that
kind of fear as his predecessor, Herod the Great, who massacred
young children after Jesus' birth, and which is found greatly
disturbing (Matthew 2:1-18).
Herod had only anxiety about Jesus' ministry, to the extent that he
believed Jesus was John raised from the dead. Herod feared that the
preaching of John was coming true and worse, that Jesus may be the
Messiah who will topple him as King of the Jews.
Perhaps we too may be like Herod at some point in our lives. We may
have heard homilies during Mass that we do not like to hear. We may
have read passages from the Bible that we did not think is logical
or practical. There may have been times the Church called us to
take a stand against an obvious wrong in our country but instead of
taking an active role, we may have found an excuse not to do
anything because it affected our comfortable schedules.
Jesus actively works with us in spreading the Good News and
strengthening the bonds of love within our families and
communities. With his help, let us rid ourselves of our
impassiveness, anxieties, and apathy, which tempts us to do nothing
or keep our distance from God and the Church.
PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray ...
- for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
- for the eternal repose of our friend's soul, Darlene dela Pena.
- for the full recovery of Rodolfo Manguino who suffered a stroke.
- for the healing of Judy's back.
- for the special intentions of Stev and Kathy.
- for the intentions for Natasha, her brother and sisters.
- for healing of Sister Annie C.
- In thanksgiving for the healing and improvement of the injury of
Mike Torres.
- for the personal intentions of Cha and her family.
- Birthday: Christine Gonzales Llamas
- 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 Reflection
for 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: http://homily.dailyfoodforthought.org/
Home: http://www.stjosephkingston.org/
Group Email: dailyhomily@gmail.com
To subscribe: subscribe_dh@dailyfoodforthought.org
To Unsubscribe: unsubscribe_dh@dailyfoodforthought.org
To post a Prayer Request: prayer_request@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
