Friday, December 29, 2006
6th Day, Octave of Christmas
December 30, 2006
6th Day, Octave of Christmas
1 JOHN 2:12-17
I am writing to you, children, because your sins have been forgiven for
his name's sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who
is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have
conquered the Evil One. I write to you, children, because you know the
Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the
beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong and the
word of God remains in you, and you have conquered the Evil One. Do not
love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world,
the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world,
sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life, is not
from the Father but is from the world. Yet the world and its enticement
are passing away. But whoever does the will of God remains forever.
LUKE 2:36-40
There was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of
Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her
husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was
eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day
with fasting and prayer. And coming forward at that very time, she gave
thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the
redemption of Jerusalem. When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions
of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of
Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the
favor of God was upon him.
REFLECTION
In today's Gospel Mary and Joseph have brought the infant Jesus to
the Temple to present him to the Lord. The old prophetess, Anna, sees
him and immediately she begins "to praise God and to speak to all who
looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem."
As serious Christians, we may envy Anna because of the ease and
perspicacity with which she discerned that God was at work in Jesus.
Anna enjoyed intimacy through prayer, with the Lord God. St. Luke
points out that she had spent 50 years or so, "never leaving the
Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer." Anna's
constant prayer led to an intimate relationship with God, and this
intimacy led to an interior knowledge of the Lord and therefore to the
ability to recognize and understand his actions in the world and in her
life.
Is constant prayer possible for us? We're in the world. We're in a
rat race. We're constantly subjected to the distractions and
temptations the rat race generates. Is constant prayer possible?
St. Ignatius Loyola wanted all his Jesuit brothers to be
"contemplatives in action," i.e., he wanted them to be fully
engaged in the activities of the world. But he wanted their being in
the world and their activities in the world to be themselves prayer; he
wanted his Jesuit brothers to be men of action but with the constant
awareness of God's presence in the world and in themselves.
It would seem that the prophetess Anna had attained this ideal. If we
could attain this ideal of constant prayer, there would be no need for
us to be envious of Anna or to be envious of her facility in discerning
what God was saying to her in this world.
PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray ...
- for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.
- for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Lydia Cu
- Birthday: Francisco Sun
- Prayer Intention: Virgilio & Ma. Concepcion Calimon
- Wedding Anniversary: Butch & Rose Narciso
- Wedding Anniversary: John & Cynthia Tan
- In Memoriam (+): Joaquin Yap
- 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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