DAILY- HOMILY

DECEMBER 14, 2009
MEMORIAL, JOHN OF THE CROSS, PRIEST, DOCTOR
MONDAY 3RD WEEK OF ADVENT – YEAR I

NUMBERS 24:2-7, 15-17A
When Balaam raised his eyes and saw Israel encamped, tribe by tribe,
the spirit of God came upon him, and he gave voice to his oracle: The
utterance of Balaam, son of Beor, the utterance of a man whose eye is
true, The utterance of one who hears what God says, and knows what the
Most High knows, Of one who sees what the Almighty sees, enraptured,
and with eyes unveiled: How goodly are your tents, O Jacob; your
encampments, O Israel! They are like gardens beside a stream, like the
cedars planted by the LORD. His wells shall yield free-flowing waters,
he shall have the sea within reach; His king shall rise higher, and
his royalty shall be exalted. Then Balaam gave voice to his oracle:
The utterance of Balaam, son of Beor, the utterance of the man whose
eye is true, The utterance of one who hears what God says, and knows
what the Most High knows, Of one who sees what the Almighty sees,
enraptured, and with eyes unveiled. I see him, though not now; I
behold him, though not near: A star shall advance from Jacob, and a
staff shall rise from Israel.

MATTHEW 21:23-27
When Jesus had come into the temple area, the chief priests and the
elders of the people approached him as he was teaching and said, "By
what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this
authority?" Jesus said to them in reply, "I shall ask you one
question, and if you answer it for me, then I shall tell you by what
authority I do these things. Where was John's baptism from? Was it of
heavenly or of human origin?" They discussed this among themselves and
said, "If we say `Of heavenly origin,' he will say to us, `Then why
did you not believe him?' But if we say, `Of human origin,' we fear
the crowd, for they all regard John as a prophet." So they said to
Jesus in reply, "We do not know." He himself said to them, "Neither
shall I tell you by what authority I do these things."

REFLECTION
Jesus' authority was challenged by the chief priests and religious
elders in today's Gospel reading. But no one can ever challenge
Christ's authority and win. Take a look at the historical setting in
which the story in today's first reading took place. It happened near
the end of the lsraelites' 40-year journey through the desert. Balaam
had been hired by Balak, the king of the Moabites, to defeat the
Israelites by sorcery since Balak knew he could not defeat them by
arms. So Balaam set out to put a curse on them, but each time he
tried, God convinced him to pronounce a blessing instead. Balaam then
warned Balak that no matter what he tried, the Israelites would defeat
them anyway because of a great king Jesus who would come in the
distant future.

We might want Jesus to come and rescue us from our troubles today, but
his timing is always perfect, beyond our understanding. While we wait,
we can take courage and find the joy of Christmas by realizing that no
matter how bad life seems to get, no matter how much the evil one
tries to defeat us, we will become the victors through Jesus.

Today, prepare for Christmas by exchanging the gift of victory with
Jesus. Give him our dried-up gardens of hope. Give him our blocked
rivers of joy. Give him everything that is not yet under his kingship.
Jesus has the authority to get what he wants. And what does he want?
He wants us to be filled with hope and joy! He wants us to live in the
victory he already gained for us on the Cross.

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
- Francis Torres
- Mon Torres
- Ian Travis Ylaya
… for the personal intentions of Fred and Nel de Leon and family
… for the eternal repose of the souls of
- Dominga Marasigan
- Fely de Guzman Tarampi
- 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: Librada Miranda
- Birthday: Hubert See Co
- Birthday: Ma. Victoria Pecho
- Birthday: Arsenia P. Anlacan
- Wedding Anniversary: Arnie & Marilou Acero
- In Memoriam (+): Ronald Allan Poe (AKA) FPJ
… 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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