DAILY- HOMILY

DECEMBER 10, 2009
THURSDAY 2ND WEEK OF ADVENT – YEAR I

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

REFLECTION
Today's Gospel is a call for courageous faith. Jesus tells us that
those who aspire to his Father's kingdom must possess a certain
violence about them. They must be deeply committed men and women with
a passionate love for the principles and life-style of Jesus himself.

The kind of radical violence that Jesus demands is a violence to
ourselves, whereupon we go much further than the rather minimal
morality of the Ten Commandments. Jesus asks us to love both God and
neighbor with the disarming love of the Beatitudes. "Blessed are the
poor the meek, the single-minded, etc." We are walking Jesus' way when
we are willing to forgive, to endure pain for others, to offer peace
and mercy. Jesus is greatly pleased when we allow love and compassion
to reign in our hearts, in our homes and in our communities at the
cost of personal sacrifice.

John the Baptist and Jesus did violence to themselves to prepare the
way for peace. Are we willing to do violence to sin within us in order
to fully crucify it? If we let sin live in us, it will kill us. It is
only by crucifying sin in our lives that we can live freely. Are we
willing to prepare the way for the coming of gentle Christ at
Christmas by getting tough with the brutality of sin within us? Are we
willing to do violence to ourselves so that we might be children of
peace?

During quiet times, there is a danger of complacency. Far from
becoming complacent, the Christian will always be sensitive to the
world and to the times in order to penetrate the facades that cover up
serious problems. He will be at tuned to the voices of the
contemporary prophets who decry injustice and call for people's
reform. The contemporary Christian will therefore be a violent person
insofar as he or she never rests, as long as the reign of the coming
God is not yet perfectly established in the hearts of people.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the strength and healing of:
- Brenda
- Rodolfo Bernal
- Sis. Dang Corpin
- Katie, Jose, Mercy, Don
- Francis Torres
- Mon Torres
- Florence Teh
- Ian Travis Ylaya
… for the personal intentions of
- Raymund, Cris and Parke
- Josheil Dapo
.. Birthday: Nel de Leon
… for the eternal repose of the souls of
- George Lim
- Antonio, Leticia
- Raul and Epifania Ylaya
Eternal rest grant unto them and may perpetual light shine upon them.
May they and all the dearly departed rest in peace.
… for the victims of natural disasters
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Jimmy Tee
- Birthday: Santino Sevilla
- Birthday: Paula O'Gorman
- Thanksgiving: Dennis, Jocelyn, Henry Adriel, Hanna Triumfo
- Wedding Anniversary: Manny and Dory Gutierrez
- Wedding Anniversary: Romy & Beth de la Paz
- Wedding Anniversary: Oliver & Ma. Cristina Coronel
… 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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Parish Priests' e-mail:
Fr. J. Cesar R. Marin, S. J. parishpriest@marythequeen.org

Assistant Parish Priests' e-mails:
Fr. R. Hart, S. J. rodneyhart@marythequeen.org
Fr. Thomas O'Gorman, S. J. thogorman@marythequeen.org
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