DAILY- HOMILY

MARCH 22, 2010
MONDAY 5TH WEEK OF LENT – YEAR II

DANIEL 13:41-62
`She refused to tell us. That is our evidence.' Since they were elders
of the people and judges, the assembly accepted their word: Susanna
was condemned to death. She cried out as loud as she could, 'Eternal
God, you know all secrets and everything before it happens; you know
that they have given false evidence against me. And now I must die,
innocent as I am of everything their malice has invented against me!'
The Lord heard her cry and, as she was being led away to die, he
roused the holy spirit residing in a young boy called Daniel who began
to shout, 'I am innocent of this woman's death!' At this all the
people turned to him and asked, 'What do you mean by that?' Standing
in the middle of the crowd, he replied, 'Are you so stupid, children
of Israel, as to condemn a daughter of Israel unheard, and without
troubling to find out the truth? Go back to the scene of the trial:
these men have given false evidence against her.' All the people
hurried back, and the elders said to Daniel, 'Come and sit with us and
tell us what you mean, since God has given you the gifts that elders
have.' Daniel said, 'Keep the men well apart from each other, for I
want to question them.' When the men had been separated, Daniel had
one of them brought to him. 'You have grown old in wickedness,' he
said, 'and now the sins of your earlier days have overtaken you, you
with your unjust judgements, your condemnation of the innocent, your
acquittal of the guilty, although the Lord has said, "You must not put
the innocent and upright to death." Now then, since you saw her so
clearly, tell me what sort of tree you saw them lying under.' He
replied, 'Under an acacia tree.' Daniel said, 'Indeed! Your lie
recoils on your own head: the angel of God has already received from
him your sentence and will cut you in half.' He dismissed the man,
ordered the other to be brought and said to him, 'Son of Canaan, not
of Judah, beauty has seduced you, lust has led your heart astray! This
is how you have been behaving with the daughters of Israel, and they
have been too frightened to resist; but here is a daughter of Judah
who could not stomach your wickedness! Now then, tell me what sort of
tree you surprised them under.' He replied, 'Under an aspen tree.'
Daniel said, 'Indeed! Your lie recoils on your own head: the angel of
God is waiting with a sword to rend you in half, and destroy the pair
of you.' Then the whole assembly shouted, blessing God, the Saviour of
those who trust in him. And they turned on the two elders whom Daniel
had convicted of false evidence out of their own mouths. As the Law of
Moses prescribes, they were given the same punishment as they had
schemed to inflict on their neighbour. They were put to death. And
thus, that day, an innocent life was saved.

JOHN 8:12-20
When Jesus spoke to the people again, he said: I am the light of the
world; anyone who follows me will not be walking in the dark, but will
have the light of life. At this the Pharisees said to him, 'You are
testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not true.' Jesus
replied: Even though I am testifying on my own behalf, my testimony is
still true, because I know where I have come from and where I am
going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You
judge by human standards; I judge no one, but if I judge, my judgement
will be true, because I am not alone: the one who sent me is with me;
and in your Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is
true. I testify on my own behalf, but the Father who sent me testifies
on my behalf, too. They asked him, 'Where is your Father then?' Jesus
answered: You do not know me, nor do you know my Father; if you did
know me, you would know my Father as well. He spoke these words in the
Treasury, while teaching in the Temple. No one arrested him, because
his hour had not yet come.

REFLECTION
Susana a God-fearing woman was subjected to a farce court procedure
and unjust sentence. Jesus too experienced the same thing. Judges make
decisions based on what they see. In practice not all injuries are
redressed nor are rights and justice observed. Because we judge by
human standards as what Christ said in the gospel. We are easily
influenced by partiality. But God judges the hearts of man. Christ
warns us many times about the sin of judgment. This is not only for
judicial and legal proceedings. This judgment takes place every day in
us in our hearts. We act and judge over the weaknesses and limitations
of others. Yet we are incapable of noticing the plank in our own eyes
and we want to remove the splinter in our brother's eye.

Christ speaks about mercy over judgment, forgiveness in place of
revenge. He was the first one to show this. He being the innocent one
submitted himself to our injustice. Death on the cross was our
sentence in front of the goodness he has shown to us. He did not judge
but instead he forgave. He excused us "Father forgive them for they
know not what they do." We have to be careful with our judgments
because "the judgments that we give are the same judgments that we
will receive."

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the speedy recovery and healing of
- Francis Torres
- Mon Torres
- Jessy
- Jo Marcelo
- Jao Jacinto
… for the personal intentions of
- Socorro
- Ma. Angeli
.. Birthday:
- Joahnna Guia Rabang
- Ian Vincent Lim
- Analisa Tomagan
- Leticia Olitoguit
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Leah Felizardo
- Birthday: Nerisa C. Guevarra
- Birthday: Fr. Aristotle Chan Dy, S.J.
- Birthday: Dr. Horacio
- In Memoriam (+): Tony Bulaong
- In Memoriam (+): Co Go Bee Ngo
- In Memoriam (+): Rectorino S. Bate
… 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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