Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Memorial, St. John of the Cross, priest & doctor
December 14, 2006
Memorial, St. John of the Cross, priest & doctor
Thursday 2nd Week of Advent - Yr II
ISAIAH 41:13-20
I am the LORD, your God, who grasp your right hand; It is I who say to
you, "Fear not, I will help you." Fear not, O worm Jacob, O maggot
Israel; I will help you, says the LORD; your redeemer is the Holy One
of Israel. I will make of you a threshing sledge, sharp, new, and
double-edged, To thresh the mountains and crush them, to make the hills
like chaff. When you winnow them, the wind shall carry them off and the
storm shall scatter them. But you shall rejoice in the LORD, and glory
in the Holy One of Israel. The afflicted and the needy seek water in
vain, their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer
them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open up
rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the broad valleys; I will
turn the desert into a marshland, and the dry ground into springs of
water. I will plant in the desert the cedar, acacia, myrtle, and olive;
I will set in the wasteland the cypress, together with the plane tree
and the pine, That all may see and know, observe and understand, That
the hand of the LORD has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created
it.
MATTHEW 11:11-15
Jesus said to the crowds: "Amen, I say to you, among those born of
women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least
in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the
Baptist until now, the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the
violent are taking it by force. All the prophets and the law prophesied
up to the time of John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is
Elijah, the one who is to come. Whoever has ears ought to hear."
REFLECTION
The area of the Middle East, which is now Turkey, was caught up in
political turmoil, when Isaiah wrote the lines in today's first
reading. Babylonia was in decline. Persia was establishing its empire.
The Lord God Yahweh has raised up Cyrus the Great, pagan king of pagan
Persia, to set Israel free from captivity in Babylonia.
The Israelites' exile is finished, their punishment complete.
Yahweh's heart fills with tenderness for the Israelites, his favored
children. He takes them by the hand to lead them back to their own
land, their own city. He counsels them that there is no need to fear,
for he will help them. For years his people have been buried in Babylon
without temple, priests or sacrifices. Yahweh will create a new life
for them, he will make the road to their homeland rich with flowing
streams, with plentiful crops, with glorious trees. He will share his
power with his people, making them like a giant threshing sled that
will reduce to mountains to powder. Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, is
their redeemer.
John the Baptist knew, of course, that the Holy One of Israel was the
nation's redeemer. Perhaps this is why Jesus says that even though
John is greater than any person born of woman, he adds, "the least
born into the kingdom of God is greater than John." For John did not
know what everyone born into God's Kingdom knows - that Jesus, the
Messiah, is God who by offering his life on the cross was in the
fullest sense of the word, redeemer, not just of the Jews but of the
entire human race
PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray ...
- for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.
- for the healing and speedy recovery of Myra.
- for the victims of the typhoons that hit the Philippines.
- for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: James L Yu
- Birthday: Fr. Jesus A. Diaz, S.J.
- Birthday: Christian Emmanuel Ching
- In Memoriam (+): James Yao E. Heong
- 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!
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