DAILY- HOMILY

DECEMBER 23, 2009
MEMORIAL, JOHN OF KANTY, PRIEST
WEDNESDAY 4TH WEEK OF ADVENT – YEAR I

MALACHI 3:1-4, 23-24
Thus says the Lord GOD: Lo, I am sending my messenger to prepare the
way before me; And suddenly there will come to the temple the LORD
whom you seek, And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Yes,
he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. But who will endure the day of
his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like the
refiner's fire, or like the fuller's lye. He will sit refining and
purifying silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, Refining them
like gold or like silver that they may offer due sacrifice to the
LORD. Then the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem will please the LORD,
as in the days of old, as in years gone by. Lo, I will send you
Elijah, the prophet, Before the day of the LORD comes, the great and
terrible day, To turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and
the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike
the land with doom.

LUKE 1:57-66
When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth
to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown
his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her. When they came
on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him
Zechariah after his father, but his mother said in reply, "No. He will
be called John." But they answered her, "There is no one among your
relatives who has this name." So they made signs, asking his father
what he wished him to be called. He asked for a tablet and wrote,
"John is his name," and all were amazed. Immediately his mouth was
opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God. Then fear came
upon all their neighbors, and all these matters were discussed
throughout the hill country of Judea. All who heard these things took
them to heart, saying, "What, then, will this child be? For surely the
hand of the Lord was with him."

REFLECTION
The grace of baptism confers on us a dignity that far surpasses that
of John the Baptist. In our baptism we receive the fullness of the
Holy Spirit. We are justified washed clean and through the indwelling
of the Holy Spirit we become children of God. Like John, we are given
a new name. Like John, we are given a vital part to play in God's
plan, which is to witness to the life that we have received in
baptism. What God wants us to be is clear. He wants us to be witnesses
to Jesus Christ and his Good News to become saints. We cannot do this
without God's help and we cannot receive God's help without humility,
which is what Jesus called the poverty of spirit.

John the Baptist was chosen by God to be one of His greatest prophets.
As a baby he was helpless and needy. As a prophet, he displayed the
same humility and need for God. Prophets are humble. They understand
that without God's grace, they are nothing. We, too, are anointed with
the grace to be prophets. We testify to this grace through embracing a
truly humble attitude before God and our neighbor. No one can
celebrate a genuine Christmas without being truly poor. The self-
sufficient, the proud, those who think they have no need even of God,
for them there will be no Christmas. Only the poor in spirit, those
who hunger for God, those who need someone to come on their behalf,
will have that someone. That someone is God, our Emmanuel, God-with-
us.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the strength and healing of:
- Brenda
- Eva Desiderio
… for the safety of the residents of Albay, threatened by the eruption
of Mayon volcano
… good health: Isabelle
… Birthday and good health: Ben Baqui
… for the victims of natural disasters
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Diana Rodriguez
- Wedding Anniversary: Isao & Peggy Lim Furukawa
- Wedding Anniversary: Josephine & Roderic Ng
- Wedding Anniversary: Carlo & Lesan Malana
… 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!

**************************************************
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
**************************************************

__._,_.___

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Group Address: http://groups.google.com/group/daily_homily

To subscribe from this mailing service, send email to: dailyhomily@earthlink.net
To unsubscribe: daily_homily-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com

Join our group on Facebook | FoodForThought and post your views,
comments and feedbacks on the reflection. Click below:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=142903436398

© 2009 Daily-Homily