DAILY- HOMILY

JANUARY 12, 2010
MONDAY 1ST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR II

1 SAMUEL 1:9-20
When they had finished eating in the room, Hannah got up and stood
before Yahweh. Eli the priest was sitting on his seat by the doorpost
of the temple of Yahweh. In the bitterness of her soul she prayed to
Yahweh with many tears, and she made this vow, 'Yahweh Sabaoth! Should
you condescend to notice the humiliation of your servant and keep her
in mind instead of disregarding your servant, and give her a boy, I
will give him to Yahweh for the whole of his life and no razor shall
ever touch his head.' While she went on praying to Yahweh, Eli was
watching her mouth, for Hannah was speaking under her breath; her lips
were moving but her voice could not be heard, and Eli thought that she
was drunk. Eli said, 'How much longer are you going to stay drunk? Get
rid of your wine.' 'No, my lord,' Hannah replied, 'I am a woman in
great trouble; I have not been drinking wine or strong drink -- I am
pouring out my soul before Yahweh. Do not take your servant for a
worthless woman; all this time I have been speaking from the depth of
my grief and my resentment.' Eli then replied, 'Go in peace, and may
the God of Israel grant what you have asked of him.' To which she
said, 'May your servant find favour in your sight.' With that, the
woman went away; she began eating and was dejected no longer. They got
up early in the morning and, after worshipping Yahweh, set out and
went home to Ramah. Elkanah lay with his wife Hannah, and Yahweh
remembered her. Hannah conceived and, in due course, gave birth to a
son, whom she named Samuel, 'since', she said, 'I asked Yahweh for
him.'

MARK 1:21-28
They went as far as Capernaum, and at once on the Sabbath he went into
the synagogue and began to teach. And his teaching made a deep
impression on them because, unlike the scribes, he taught them with
authority. And at once in their synagogue there was a man with an
unclean spirit, and he shouted, 'What do you want with us, Jesus of
Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy
One of God.' But Jesus rebuked it saying, 'Be quiet! Come out of him!'
And the unclean spirit threw the man into convulsions and with a loud
cry went out of him. The people were so astonished that they started
asking one another what it all meant, saying, 'Here is a teaching that
is new, and with authority behind it: he gives orders even to unclean
spirits and they obey him.' And his reputation at once spread
everywhere, through all the surrounding Galilean countryside.

REFLECTION
After reading today's Gospel, it is not enough simply to jot down that
Jesus spoke and acted with power and authority. We must submit to him.
We have a choice to make. God asks for the free surrender of our lives
to him. He never forces our will. He invites and encourages us. God is
patient and good. His plan for our lives is the best plan, but it is
our choice whether to surrender our lives to his plan or to keep our
lives in our own hands. This is the power of free will. We can say
"no" to God. We can reject his plan and deny his revelation.

Are there any areas in our lives in which we are not fully submitting
to him and his teachings? Are there a few aspects of the Ten
Commandments that we avoid thinking about? Are there Church teachings
that we have not really accepted? Do we show Christ's authority in our
lives by our obedience to him? Are we merely hearers of the word,
amazed and astonished at what we hear, without being doers of the word
at all? Do we simply listen to Jesus' words without really letting
them enter our hearts and change our lives? Perhaps some of us will
admit that if Jesus' teaching does not make sense to us, we have a
hard time accepting it. We are slow to respond.

Let us ask Jesus today to help us to put him first in our lives, for
the grace to accept with love all the things he is sending us and
permitting our lives. Let us ask him to open our hearts to him and to
his plans for us and to carry them out without counting the cost.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the strength and healing of:
- Brenda
- Ely Lara
- Rita Cuerva
- Abraham
- Flora
… for the personal intentions of:
- Mary Wong
- Pauline
… for the healing and peace of all families
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Francisco Tong
… 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!

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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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