DAILY- HOMILY

JANUARY 24, 2010
3RD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR C

NEHEMIAH 8:2-4A, 5-6, 8-10
Accordingly, on the first day of the seventh month, the priest Ezra
brought the Law before the assembly, consisting of men, women and all
those old enough to understand. In the square in front of the Water
Gate, in the presence of the men and women, and of those old enough to
understand, he read from the book from dawn till noon; all the people
listened attentively to the Book of the Law. The scribe Ezra stood on
a wooden dais erected for the purpose; beside him stood, on his right,
Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; on his left,
Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and
Meshullam. In full view of all the people -- since he stood higher
than them all -- Ezra opened the book; and when he opened it, all the
people stood up. Then Ezra blessed Yahweh, the great God, and all the
people raised their hands and answered, 'Amen! Amen!'; then they bowed
down and, face to the ground, prostrated themselves before Yahweh.
Ezra read from the book of the Law of God, translating and giving the
sense; so the reading was understood. Then His Excellency Nehemiah and
the priest-scribe Ezra and the Levites who were instructing the people
said to all the people, 'Today is sacred to Yahweh your God. Do not be
mournful, do not weep.' For the people were all in tears as they
listened to the words of the Law. He then said, 'You may go; eat what
is rich, drink what is sweet and send a helping to the man who has
nothing prepared. For today is sacred to our Lord. Do not be sad: the
joy of Yahweh is your stronghold.'

1 CORINTHIANS 12:12-30 OR 12:12-14, 27
For as with the human body which is a unity although it has many parts
-- all the parts of the body, though many, still making up one single
body -- so it is with Christ. We were baptised into one body in a
single Spirit, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as free men, and
we were all given the same Spirit to drink. And indeed the body
consists not of one member but of many. Now Christ's body is
yourselves, each of you with a part to play in the whole.

LUKE 1:1-4; 4:14-21
Seeing that many others have undertaken to draw up accounts of the
events that have reached their fulfilment among us, as these were
handed down to us by those who from the outset were eyewitnesses and
ministers of the word, I in my turn, after carefully going over the
whole story from the beginning, have decided to write an ordered
account for you, Theophilus, so that your Excellency may learn how
well founded the teaching is that you have received. Jesus, with the
power of the Spirit in him, returned to Galilee; and his reputation
spread throughout the countryside. He taught in their synagogues and
everyone glorified him. He came to Nazara, where he had been brought
up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day as he usually did.
He stood up to read, and they handed him the scroll of the prophet
Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written:
The spirit of the Lord is on me, for he has anointed me to bring the
good news to the afflicted. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to
captives, sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to
proclaim a year of favour from the Lord. He then rolled up the scroll,
gave it back to the assistant and sat down. And all eyes in the
synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to speak to them, 'This
text is being fulfilled today even while you are listening.'

REFLECTION
Jesus' one final act of love was his obedience to his Father, even
unto death. With his death, Jesus' and his Father's love was liberated
in the person of the Holy Spirit. This same Spirit is now present and
works in us and in our midst. He asks us to effect changes within
ourselves as well as for our commitment to carry on with what Jesus
set out to do at his inaugural address. Finally, he tells us not be
overwhelmed by the difficulties and trials that come our way because
he will always be with us.

The marvellous dramatic flourish that Jesus gives when he says, "This
text is being fulfilled today even as you listen", situates salvation
in the present moment. And this is vital—salvation is not something
over the horizon. No, salvation occurs in the present moment, right
now! We do not and cannot wait for it. We need it right now. But there
is an interesting distinction to be made between what we need and what
we are prepared to do. Yes, it is easy for us to say to God: "Come
Lord, right now and bring me salvation."

But it is not so easy for us to make the changes that would be
required if this prayer of ours was answered. We know that if we
opened ourselves up to the fullness of God's love, we could not go on
living the way that we are doing right now. We know that big changes
would be required and it is not so easy for us to start making those
changes. We want to put them off until tomorrow, and tomorrow and
tomorrow. "This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen."
Jesus is not simply referring to the day on which he uttered those
words.

My dear friends, this text is being fulfilled in your life and mine
right now. We poor hear the good news. We captives are given liberty
from our sins. We, spiritually blind now can see that Jesus is truly
the Light of our Lives. And this year and every year that follows is a
year of the Lord's favour.

God bless you.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the strength and healing of:
- Brenda
- Gemma
- Davis Danao
- Abraham A.
- Julian Santiago, Sr.
… for the personal intentions of:
- Mariano Montemayor
- Angelo Sulangi
- Jackie T.
- Pauline
- Josheil Dapo
… for the eternal repose of the souls of
- Edmund D. Tagle
- Nestor "Boy" Laruda
- Go Bon Shu
Eternal rest grant unto him and may perpetual light shine upon him.
May he and all the dearly departed rest in peace.
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Pacita A. Tolentino
- Wedding Anniversary: Gervin & Rosabel Kaw
… 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!

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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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