DAILY- HOMILY

DECEMBER 23, 2010
MEMORIAL, ST. JOHN OF KANTY, PRIEST
THURSDAY 4TH WEEK OF ADVENT – YEAR II

MALACHI 3:1-4, 23-24
'Look, I shall send my messenger to clear a way before me. And
suddenly the Lord whom you seek will come to his Temple; yes, the
angel of the covenant, for whom you long, is on his way, says Yahweh
Sabaoth. Who will be able to resist the day of his coming? Who will
remain standing when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire,
like fullers' alkali. He will take his seat as refiner and purifier;
he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver,
so that they can make the offering to Yahweh with uprightness. The
offering of Judah and Jerusalem will then be acceptable to Yahweh as
in former days, as in the years of old. 'Look, I shall send you the
prophet Elijah before the great and awesome Day of Yahweh comes. He
will reconcile parents to their children and children to their
parents, to forestall my putting the country under the curse of
destruction.'

LUKE 1:57-66
The time came for Elizabeth to have her child, and she gave birth to a
son; and when her neighbours and relations heard that the Lord had
lavished on her his faithful love, they shared her joy. Now it
happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child;
they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother
spoke up. 'No,' she said, 'he is to be called John.' They said to her,
'But no one in your family has that name,' and made signs to his
father to find out what he wanted him called. The father asked for a
writing-tablet and wrote, 'His name is John.' And they were all
astonished. At that instant his power of speech returned and he spoke
and praised God. All their neighbours were filled with awe and the
whole affair was talked about throughout the hill country of Judaea.
All those who heard of it treasured it in their hearts. 'What will
this child turn out to be?' they wondered. And indeed the hand of the
Lord was with him.

REFLECTION
What's in a name? When we Google the origin of the name John, the
simple translation shows "God is gracious." John is probably one of
the more popular names nowadays as well.

Perhaps John the Baptist had some inkling as to what God's plans were
for him. How many of us would choose to live an ascetic life in the
desert proclaiming the arrival of the Messiah? Not too many of us
probably. But, John embraced his role, the part he was to play for the
world's salvation. Even his parents had a sense of what their son was
supposed to do. That's why they named him, "John". He was sent ahead
to usher in the graciousness of God. He was to be a witness to
greatness. Hopefully, all of us can do our part to make God's grace
more present in our everyday realities. We need not become like
hermits like John.

This Christmas and throughout the New Year, may we always be
courageous in standing up for our faith. In this season of giving, let
us continually pray to be open to God's grace. Let the entire world
reverberate with God's promise that He is always with us. We are so
very fortunate and grateful that Our Savior chose to be one of us.
John the Baptist announced the coming of the Kingdom. May we who live
after him be part of that idyllic environment of love, peace, and
hope.

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
- Jo Marcelo, Jun Lee, John Lawrence
- Susan
… for the personal intentions of
- Bill and Carol
- Charles and Munira
- Felicity
- Josefina Hong, Laurent Cabuloy, Haressh Mirchadani, Maxienne Ponce
De Leon, Rosauro Canta, Joaquin Co, Francisco Madilar, Mark Anthony
Lao
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Achis J. Del Carmen
- Birthday: Joy Chua
- Birthday: Joan Ross T. Yao
- Wedding Anniversary: Josephine & Roderic Ng
- Wedding Anniversary: Isao & Peggy Lim Furukawa
… 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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