DAILY- HOMILY

August 15, 2007
Solemnity, Assumption of Mary
Wednesday 19th Week in Ordinary Time - Year I

REVELATION 11:19A; 12:1-6A, 10AB
God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant could
be seen in the temple. A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman
clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a
crown of twelve stars. She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as
she labored to give birth. Then another sign appeared in the sky; it
was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on its
heads were seven diadems. Its tail swept away a third of the stars in
the sky and hurled them down to the earth. Then the dragon stood
before the woman about to give birth, to devour her child when she
gave birth. She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule
all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and
his throne. The woman herself fled into the desert where she had a
place prepared by God. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now
have salvation and power come, and the Kingdom of our God and the
authority of his Anointed One."

1 CORINTHIANS 15:20-27
Brothers and sisters: Christ has been raised from the dead, the
firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came
through man, the resurrection of the dead came also through man. For
just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to
life, but each one in proper order: Christ the firstfruits; then, at
his coming, those who belong to Christ; then comes the end, when he
hands over the Kingdom to his God and Father, when he has destroyed
every sovereignty and every authority and power. For he must reign
until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be
destroyed is death, for "he subjected everything under his feet."

LUKE 1:39-56
Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of
Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice
and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of
your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord
should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting
reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you
who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be
fulfilled." And Mary said: "My soul proclaims the greatness of the
Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has looked with favor
on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me
blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his
Name. He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. He has
shown the strength of his arm, and has scattered the proud in their
conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has
lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and
the rich he has sent away empty. He has come to the help of his
servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise
he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever." Mary
remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.

REFLECTION
As we look on the life of Mary, the first thing we find in Mary's life
is suffering. Mary's suffering began when she was asked to bear a son
before being married to Joseph, her fiancé.

Her suffering reached its peak when she stood beneath the crucified
body of her son on Calvary. Mary bore her suffering with courage and
with patience. And that's where she becomes a source of inspiration to
us. She inspires us to bear our suffering as courageously and
patiently as she did.

This brings us to the second thing that we find in Mary's life: the
spirit of service to others. The spirit manifested itself when the
angel Gabriel announced that she was to be the mother of the Son of
God. Her answer was short and to the point: "Behold, I am the handmaid
of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word."

Mary's spirit of service continued to manifest itself when she learned
of her cousin, Elizabeth's pregnancy and went to help. Finally, that
spirit of service continued to manifest itself when Mary asked help
from Jesus for the young married couple at Cana. Mary was already
there to help at the reception in the first place.

This brings us to the third thing that we find in Mary's life. It is a
spirit of profound prayerfulness.

Because of her prayerfulness, she was always ready to do the will of
God. That's why she was sinless, that's why she was taken body and
soul to heaven upon her death to be with God forever.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said, "Prayer enlarges the heart until
it is capable of containing God's gift of himself." This is what
prayer did for Mary. And this is what it can also do for us.

Mary inspires us to want to carry our cross patiently as she carried
hers. She inspires us to want to serve others generously and joyfully,
as she served them. Finally, she inspires us to pray regularly as she
did.

It is in this regard we can confidently look to Mary as our
intercessor. We often ask friends, especially those we believe, who
are close to God to pray for us and for our intentions. Jesus himself
declared: "... If two of you join your voices on earth to pray for
anything whatever, it shall be granted you by my Father in
heaven." (Matt. 18: 19) Mary is the person most pleasing to God, a
person who is always ready to help us. Her prayers and intercessions
will be most pleasing to God. Who can be a better Advocate than Mary
Our Mother?

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray ...
... for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
... for the strength, healing and speedy recovery of:
- Benjamin Reyes
- Ma. Theresa R. Tuliao
- Tyrone Baun
- Cesar Gomez
- Louie, Loy, Lita, Aileen, Dennis
- Marge, Ann, Ken, Ann of IL, Helen, Cecelia, Ken
- Donna
- Damaso Guevara
- Clarise Welch, Charlie Castro, Delly David, Julie Manzon,
Glenda Bisco, Abelino Gutual
... for the personal intentions of:
- Nona, Nerissa, Rogelio, Cheryl
- Julie and Glenn Manzon, Domingo Barayoga Jr., Churchill
Barayoga, Ashley Joy Barayoga
- Chibu, Trinna, Tinky, Gailey, Noc
... In Thanksgiving:
- Jose Rigor, Feliciana, Ernesto and Maria Fatima
- Manzon Family, Barayoga Family, Escamilla Family, Vergara
Family, Bisco Family, Castro Family, De Castro Family, Welch Family,
Domingo Barayoga Jr., Cesy & Bnejie
- Marina, Dinah and Jao
... for the eternal repose of the souls of
- Candido, Maria, Isidora, Alipio, Jovita, Alfonso, Alfonsa
- Domingo Barayoga Sr., Lourdes Barayoga, Allan Escamilla
- Eternal rest grant unto them and may perpetual light shine
upon them. May they and all the dearly departed rest in peace.
... for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Edmundo T. V.
- Thanksgiving: Luisa L. Quintana
- Wedding Anniversary: Augusto and Gloria Dacanay
- In Memoriam (+): Tomas Ngo Tiong Tay
... 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!

--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Group "DAILY-HOMILY".

GROUP CONTACT
To subscribe email: dailyhomily@gmail.com
Or go to: http://homily.dailyfoodforthought.org/
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to:
daily_homily-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
To contact: dhmoderator@dailyfoodforthought.org

SUPPORT THE DAILY-HOMILY MINISTRY:
Daily-Homily is solely supported by its subscribers. Any donation that you would like to make to help offset the cost of this ministry would be greatly appreciated.
To donate to this ministry, go to: http://dhdonation.dailyfoodforthought.org/

Feel free to forward this to your friends, family and associates!

(c) 2007 Daily-Homily
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---