DAILY- HOMILY

JANUARY 2, 2010
SATURDAY OCTAVE OF CHRISTMAS – YEAR II

1 JOHN 2:22-28
Who is the liar, if not one who claims that Jesus is not the Christ?
This is the Antichrist, who denies both the Father and the Son.
Whoever denies the Son cannot have the Father either; whoever
acknowledges the Son has the Father too. Let what you heard in the
beginning remain in you; as long as what you heard in the beginning
remains in you, you will remain in the Son and in the Father. And the
promise he made you himself is eternal life. So much have I written to
you about those who are trying to lead you astray. But as for you, the
anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need
anyone to teach you; since the anointing he gave you teaches you
everything, and since it is true, not false, remain in him just as he
has taught you. Therefore remain in him now, children, so that when he
appears we may be fearless, and not shrink from him in shame at his
coming.

JOHN 1:19-28
This was the witness of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and
Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, 'Who are you?' He declared, he did
not deny but declared, 'I am not the Christ.' So they asked, 'Then are
you Elijah?' He replied, 'I am not.' 'Are you the Prophet?' He
answered, 'No.' So they said to him, 'Who are you? We must take back
an answer to those who sent us. What have you to say about yourself?'
So he said, 'I am, as Isaiah prophesied: A voice of one that cries in
the desert: Prepare a way for the Lord. Make his paths straight!' Now
those who had been sent were Pharisees, and they put this question to
him, 'Why are you baptising if you are not the Christ, and not Elijah,
and not the Prophet?' John answered them, 'I baptise with water; but
standing among you -- unknown to you- is the one who is coming after
me; and I am not fit to undo the strap of his sandal.' This happened
at Bethany, on the far side of the Jordan, where John was baptising.

REFLECTION
Many of us would be hard-pressed to answer the question, "Who are
you?". Yet John's responses – to this and the other difficult
questions that followed -- are brief, straight to the point, given
without hesitation. He even declares his life's mission to "prepare a
way for the Lord…". Later in the chapter, John does another surprising
thing – he points Jesus out to others and announces "Look, there is
the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world". How did John
arrive at these conclusions? Was it his detachment from the mundane
cultivated by a life in the desert? Was it Zachariah's prophecy at
John's birth that predestined it, and was he simply expressing
obedience to the prophecy? Did he know his cousin as Christ even
before he pointed him out to the crowd? Detachment, obedience or
insider knowledge – we can only speculate how John arrived at his
answers. One thing is certain - John had one final decision to make on
his own which was to challenge the established order by announcing
Christ's arrival to the world. This required great courage because he
surely knew that he was laying his life on the line by doing so. How
did John source this courage?

Holy Spirit, enlighten us. Grant us time with you so we can learn to
attain sufficient detachment from the world to discover that we are
indeed predestined children of God. Then give us courage to live out
our destiny.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.
… for the strength and healing of Brenda
… for the personal intentions of:
- Richard Condor
- Pauline
- Jazmine
… for the victims of natural disasters
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Caridad B. Yang
- Birthday: Dr. Veronica Nañagas-Devon
- Birthday: Emmanuel G. Hio, Jr.
- Wedding Anniversary: Dennis & Cornelia Tan Ang
- In Memoriam (+): Lilia B. Serrano
… 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
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