DAILY- HOMILY

JANUARY 8, 2009
THURSDAY AFTER EPIPHANY - YEAR I

1 JOHN 4:19-5:4
Beloved, we love God because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I
love God," but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not
love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
This is the commandment we have from him: Whoever loves God must also
love his brother. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is
begotten by God, and everyone who loves the Father loves also the one
begotten by him. In this way we know that we love the children of God
when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is
this, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not
burdensome, for whoever is begotten by God conquers the world. And the
victory that conquers the world is our faith.

LUKE 4:14-22
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him
spread throughout the whole region. He taught in their synagogues and
was praised by all. He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and
went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He
stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He
unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring
glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to
captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go
free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. Rolling up the
scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes
of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them,
"Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing." And all
spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came
from his mouth.

REFLECTION
Love is not a feeling, it is an act of our will by which we wish good
and not evil to another. We may have our personality conflicts and
emotional preferences, but we must seek to do good to all people. God
loves us even when we are committing sin. He expects us to love others
even when they do us wrong.

For many of us, this is a lifelong struggle. It is a struggle to
forgive as Christ forgives, to show mercy as God shows mercy, to wish
well to another when others wishes ill to us. We have the power of God
within us, since we have been begotten of God.

Practically speaking, love of neighbor is not always easy, but with
God's grace it is possible. Love is man's first calling. The Lord
calls us to give ourselves to bring true happiness to others.

As the Christmas season ends this coming Sunday, on the Feast of the
Baptism of Jesus, we should continue keeping the needs of others
foremost in our lives. There is so much we can do to show God's love
to others. Even as the decorations are kept and the memory of
Christmas dims, we can still allow Jesus' light to shine within us by
living the commandment of love for our brothers and sisters. This is
what Jesus calls us to do. We must actively participate in the mission
for which Jesus came.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the speedy recovery and healing of
- Sophia Gonzalez
- Fr Pat Umberger
… for the eternal repose of the soul of Lilia Serrano. Eternal rest
grant unto her and may perpetual light shine upon her. May she and all
the dearly departed rest in peace.
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- In Memoriam (+): Chan Chin Sing
- Wedding Anniversary: Boy and Cora Morando
… for the healing and peace of all families

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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