DAILY- HOMILY

MARCH 25, 2010
SOLEMNITY, ANNUNCIATION OF THE LORD
THURSDAY 5TH WEEK OF LENT – YEAR II

ISAIAH 7:10-14
Yahweh spoke to Ahaz again and said: Ask Yahweh your God for a sign,
either in the depths of Sheol or in the heights above. But Ahaz said,
'I will not ask. I will not put Yahweh to the test.' He then said:
Listen now, House of David: are you not satisfied with trying human
patience that you should try my God's patience too? The Lord will give
you a sign in any case: It is this: the young woman is with child and
will give birth to a son whom she will call Immanuel.

HEBREWS 10:4-10
Bulls' blood and goats' blood are incapable of taking away sins, and
that is why he said, on coming into the world: You wanted no sacrifice
or cereal offering, but you gave me a body. You took no pleasure in
burnt offering or sacrifice for sin; then I said, 'Here I am, I am
coming,' in the scroll of the book it is written of me, to do your
will, God. He says first You did not want what the Law lays down as
the things to be offered, that is: the sacrifices, the cereal
offerings, the burnt offerings and the sacrifices for sin, and you
took no pleasure in them; and then he says: Here I am! I am coming to
do your will. He is abolishing the first sort to establish the second.
And this will was for us to be made holy by the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ made once and for all.

LUKE 1:26-38
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in
Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the House of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. He went in and
said to her, 'Rejoice, you who enjoy God's favour! The Lord is with
you.' She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what
this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, 'Mary, do not be
afraid; you have won God's favour. Look! You are to conceive in your
womb and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and
will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the
throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for
ever and his reign will have no end.' Mary said to the angel, 'But how
can this come about, since I have no knowledge of man?' The angel
answered, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the
Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be
holy and will be called Son of God. And I tell you this too: your
cousin Elizabeth also, in her old age, has conceived a son, and she
whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is
impossible to God.' Mary said, 'You see before you the Lord's servant,
let it happen to me as you have said.' And the angel left her.

REFLECTION
Let's place ourselves in Mary's situation. An angel appears and shares
the message that you are to become the Mother of God. This is quite a
precarious scenario because you know you had no physical relations
with any man, and now you are about to become an unwed mother. In this
biblical era, you're already considered a second-class citizen because
you're a woman. What makes it even more shameful is that you might be
suspected of adultery as well, because you've already been betrothed
to Joseph. That's pretty much finding yourself in a difficult
situation.

Still, with great humility and deep faith, Mary accepts this mission
assigned to her from above. No matter what others may think of her,
she'll accept the task that God asks of her. Even Joseph accepts his
calling and supports his wife. And our world has never been the same
since.

Can we exude the same call to mission as Our Lady in spite of the
difficulties that will come our way? More often than not, we'd
probably find ourselves running the other way. Or perhaps, we'll
probably bargain with God to get someone else. But, when we are
requested to service by our Creator, hopefully we can answer with
total trust and complete abandonment.

And, with God's grace just like Mama Mary, others will benefit from
our resounding "yes" to the Father's plan. May we always pray to be as
ready as Mary to answer in the affirmative, especially if it involves
a chance to save others.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the personal intentions of
- Josheil Dapo
- Ma. Angeli
- Francis Torres
- Mon Torres
- Jessy
- Jo Marcelo
- Jun Lee
- Veronica Yap
… In Thanksgiving: Josheil Dapo
.. Birthday:
- Timothy Jason Simeon
- Amity Tan
… for the eternal repose of the souls of
- Dr. Juanito A.Vergel de Dios
- Felix Asilo
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: Mrs. Esther A. Vibal
- Birthday: Ramona Chan Young
- Birthday: Francis C. Ang Jr.
- In Memoriam (+): Stewart (1961-1993) & Frances Valerie Liao
(1963-1993)
… 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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