DAILY- HOMILY

JANUARY 18, 2008
FRIDAY 1ST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - YEAR II

1 SAMUEL 8:4-7, 10-22A
All the elders of Israel came in a body to Samuel at Ramah and said
to him, "Now that you are old, and your sons do not follow your
example, appoint a king over us, as other nations have, to judge
us." Samuel was displeased when they asked for a king to judge them.
He prayed to the LORD, however, who said in answer: "Grant the
people's every request. It is not you they reject, they are rejecting
me as their king." Samuel delivered the message of the LORD in full
to those who were asking him for a king. He told them: "The rights of
the king who will rule you will be as follows: He will take your sons
and assign them to his chariots and horses, and they will run before
his chariot. He will also appoint from among them his commanders of
groups of a thousand and of a hundred soldiers. He will set them to
do his plowing and his harvesting, and to make his implements of war
and the equipment of his chariots. He will use your daughters as
ointment makers, as cooks, and as bakers. He will take the best of
your fields, vineyards, and olive groves, and give them to his
officials. He will tithe your crops and your vineyards, and give the
revenue to his eunuchs and his slaves. He will take your male and
female servants, as well as your best oxen and your asses, and use
them to do his work. He will tithe your flocks and you yourselves
will become his slaves. When this takes place, you will complain
against the king whom you have chosen, but on that day the LORD will
not answer you." The people, however, refused to listen to Samuel's
warning and said, "Not so! There must be a king over us. We too must
be like other nations, with a king to rule us and to lead us in
warfare and fight our battles." When Samuel had listened to all the
people had to say, he repeated it to the LORD, who then said to
him, "Grant their request and appoint a king to rule them."

MARK 2:1-12
When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it became known
that he was at home. Many gathered together so that there was no
longer room for them, not even around the door, and he preached the
word to them. They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four
men. Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up
the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the
mat on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he
said to him, "Child, your sins are forgiven." Now some of the scribes
were sitting there asking themselves, "Why does this man speak that
way? He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?" Jesus
immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves,
so he said, "Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? Which
is easier, to say to the paralytic, `Your sins are forgiven,' or to
say, `Rise, pick up your mat and walk'? But that you may know that
the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth" he said to the
paralytic, "I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home." He
rose, picked up his mat at once, and went away in the sight of
everyone. They were all astounded and glorified God, saying, "We have
never seen anything like this."

REFLECTION
What is indeed easier to do -- to forgive a person's sins or to make a
paralytic walk? We are confronted with this question today. At one
point or another, we are all guilty of requiring concrete
manifestations of God as requisites to being convinced of His power.
Like the people during Samuel's time, we reject God's will for us and
opt for what we think is best for ourselves. And of ten, what we
think is best for ourselves is externally logical and rather obvious,
not seeing the wisdom that underlies God's path for us.

We see in today's readings the fundamental need to discern God's will
for us in each junction of our lives. At times, His will for us is
simply and overtly logical and straight forward. Other times,
however, His will is clothed with ambiguous signs or even apparent
suffering. In each of these instances, we need to find His wisdom.

Let us ask ourselves today: how am I able to ask for this grace of
discernment on a day-to-day basis and accept His will for me no
matter how different it is from my expectations?

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray ...
... for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
... for the strength, healing and speedy recovery of:
- Herminia Guiden
- Russell P. Cuenca
- George Tio
- Buboy Adviento
- Minerva Militar
... for the personal intentions of: Jone Buadramo and Grace Sandoval
... In Thanksgiving: Carlo Florentino and Jehovah Raffa
... for the eternal repose of the souls of Maria, Candido, Isidora,
Alfonso, Alfonsa, Jovita, Modesta, Alipio. 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.
- Wedding Anniversary: James & Alice Chuaunsu
... 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!

© 2008 Daily-Homily
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---