DAILY- HOMILY

FEBRUARY 11, 2010
MEMORIAL, OUR LADY OF LOURDES
THURSDAY 5TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR II

1 KINGS 11:4-13
When Solomon grew old his wives swayed his heart to other gods; and
his heart was not wholly with Yahweh his God as his father David's had
been. Solomon became a follower of Astarte, the goddess of the
Sidonians, and of Milcom, the Ammonite abomination. He did what was
displeasing to Yahweh, and was not a wholehearted follower of Yahweh,
as his father David had been. Then it was that Solomon built a high
place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, on the mountain to the
east of Jerusalem, and to Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites. He
did the same for all his foreign wives, who offered incense and
sacrifice to their gods. Yahweh was angry with Solomon because his
heart had turned away from Yahweh, God of Israel, who had twice
appeared to him and had forbidden him to follow other gods; but he did
not carry out Yahweh's order. Yahweh therefore said to Solomon, 'Since
you have behaved like this and have not kept my covenant or the laws
which I laid down for you, I shall tear the kingdom away from you and
give it to one of your servants. For your father David's sake,
however, I shall not do this during your lifetime, but shall tear it
out of your son's hands. Even so, I shall not tear the whole kingdom
from him. For the sake of my servant David, and for the sake of
Jerusalem which I have chosen, I shall leave your son one tribe.'

MARK 7:24-30
He left that place and set out for the territory of Tyre. There he
went into a house and did not want anyone to know he was there; but he
could not pass unrecognised. At once a woman whose little daughter had
an unclean spirit heard about him and came and fell at his feet. Now
this woman was a gentile, by birth a Syro-Phoenician, and she begged
him to drive the devil out of her daughter. And he said to her, 'The
children should be fed first, because it is not fair to take the
children's food and throw it to little dogs.' But she spoke up, 'Ah
yes, sir,' she replied, 'but little dogs under the table eat the
scraps from the children.' And he said to her, 'For saying this you
may go home happy; the devil has gone out of your daughter.' So she
went off home and found the child lying on the bed and the devil gone.

REFLECTION
Such is the love of a mother for her daughter. Even if she knew that
there was a slim chance of being entertained by Jesus due to prevalent
cultural biases at that time – of her being a woman and a Gentile –
still she persisted. And because of her faith and trust in Our Lord,
her daughter was freed from the demonic spirit.

What a beautiful example of complete dependence on God's mercy and
healing! How wonderful it would be if we could show the same in all
that we do. No matter how difficult things may get in this world, our
total abandonment for the things of heaven keeps us going. We know
that Jesus will look after us even if we are unworthy, even if we
don't deserve paradise.

At first glance, it may seem that Jesus is dismissing the Syro-
Phoenician woman because of his reply. Rather, he is giving her the
opportunity to openly proclaim her uncompromising belief, that only
Jesus can heal her child. Regardless of what others may think of her,
she believed with all her heart that Jesus will indeed come to her
aid.

Even if public opinion in general might observe our actions as
foolish, we still hold on to our relationship with Christ. We honestly
feel that no one else can be our Savior. He alone has the power to
free us from sin. He can chase away the evil forces taunting us when
we find ourselves completely overwhelmed by the realities of an
immoral society. He is our shelter in the storm of dealing with the
everyday challenges of just trying to survive.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the strength and healing of:
- Brenda
- Josefina T. Lichauco
- Filmore T.
- Francis Torres
- Mon Torres
- Jessy
- Jo Marcelo
- Gemma
- Davis Danao
- Abraham A.
- Pureza Flor Gaerlan
- Jerry Solis
… for the personal intentions of Mariano Montemayor
… for the eternal repose of the souls of
- Lolita Sycip
- Abe Gopoco
- Cecille Ann Quintos
Eternal rest grant unto them and may perpetual light shine upon them.
May they and all the dearly departed rest in peace.
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: JV Rinosa
- Birthday: Lourdes C. Malvar
- Wedding Anniversary: Edward & Jennifer Inocentes
- Wedding Anniversary: Jerome & Sally Lim Gotamco
… 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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