DAILY- HOMILY

DECEMBER 13, 2010
MEMORIAL, ST. LUCY, VIRGIN AND MARTYR
MONDAY 3RD WEEK OF ADVENT – YEAR II

NUMBERS 24:2-7, 15-17
Raising his eyes Balaam saw Israel settled tribe by tribe; the spirit
of God came on him and he declaimed his poem, as follows: The prophecy
of Balaam son of Beor, the prophecy of the man with far-seeing eyes,
the prophecy of one who hears the words of God. He sees what Shaddai
makes him see, receives the divine answer, and his eyes are opened.
How fair your tents are, Jacob, how fair your dwellings, Israel, like
valleys that stretch afar, like gardens by the banks of a river, like
aloes planted by Yahweh, like cedars beside the waters! A hero arises
from their stock, he reigns over countless peoples. His king is
greater than Agag, and his kingship held in honour. He then declaimed
his poem, as follows: The prophecy of Balaam son of Beor, the prophecy
of the man with far-seeing eyes, the prophecy of one who hears the
words of God, of one who knows the knowledge of the Most High. He sees
what Shaddai makes him see, receives the divine answer, and his eyes
are opened. I see him -- but not in the present. I perceive him -- but
not close at hand: a star is emerging from Jacob, a sceptre is rising
from Israel, to strike the brow of Moab, the skulls of all the
children of Seth.

MATTHEW 21:23-27
He had gone into the Temple and was teaching, when the chief priests
and the elders of the people came to him and said, 'What authority
have you for acting like this? And who gave you this authority?' In
reply Jesus said to them, 'And I will ask you a question, just one; if
you tell me the answer to it, then I will tell you my authority for
acting like this. John's baptism: what was its origin, heavenly or
human?' And they argued this way among themselves, 'If we say
heavenly, he will retort to us, "Then why did you refuse to believe
him?"; but if we say human, we have the people to fear, for they all
hold that John was a prophet.' So their reply to Jesus was, 'We do not
know.' And he retorted to them, 'Nor will I tell you my authority for
acting like this.'

REFLECTION
If we recognize that the authority of Jesus Christ came from God, why
then do many refuse to believe in him? More so, many refuse to believe
in the Church even though Jesus passed his authority to the Church.
Today, many don't believe in the teachings of the Church. The Church
is the body of Christ. Those who don't believe will never believe.
Many times, we believe in the human authority which we can see and
touch rather than in the divine authority which we cannot see. And
since we do not see or refuse to see, we will always remain blind and
remain in a state of "not knowing".

Jesus is the recipient of a singular authority, with power to forgive
sins. He is the Lord of the Sabbath. He has power over sickness, and
even demons. His authority surpasses all earthly, political and human
authority. And with all this power and authority, Jesus chose to love
mankind, unworthy as we are and undeserving of so great a Savior. This
shows the greatest love the world has known. We are loved in a divine
and ultimate way!

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the speedy recovery and healing of
- Vicky Fabella
- Deacon Joe Nicholas
- Susan
… for the personal intentions of Josheil Dapo
…In Thanksgiving: Luis Torres
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Marissa S. Saludares
- Birthday: Caridad Rabuco
- Birthday: Senator Manny Villar
- Birthday: Jesus A. Diaz, SJ
- Birthday: James Lim Yu
- Birthday: Christian Emmanuel Ching
- Thanksgiving: The Family of Aguilar & Villar
- In Memoriam (+): James Yao E Heong
… 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!

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

These reflections are distributed free and are for personal use only.
Feel free to send the Daily Prayer reflections to your friends,
colleagues and relatives; however, if you do, please include the
following:

+================================================+
| The Daily Prayer, a service and an apostolate of the
| priests, laity and friends of Mary the Queen Parish
| http://www.marythequeen.org
| Distributed free and for personal use only.
+================================================+

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GoogleGroup Address: http://groups.google.com/group/daily_homily
To subscribe from this free mailing service, send email to: dailyhomily@earthlink.net
To unsubscribe: daily_homily-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com

© 2010 Daily-Homily