DAILY- HOMILY

DECEMBER 5, 2010
2ND SUNDAY OF ADVENT – A

ISAIAH 11:1-10
A shoot will spring from the stock of Jesse, a new shoot will grow
from his roots. On him will rest the spirit of Yahweh, the spirit of
wisdom and insight, the spirit of counsel and power, the spirit of
knowledge and fear of Yahweh: his inspiration will lie in fearing
Yahweh. His judgement will not be by appearances. his verdict not
given on hearsay. He will judge the weak with integrity and give fair
sentence for the humblest in the land. He will strike the country with
the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips bring death to
the wicked. Uprightness will be the belt around his waist, and
constancy the belt about his hips. The wolf will live with the lamb,
the panther lie down with the kid, calf, lion and fat-stock beast
together, with a little boy to lead them. The cow and the bear will
graze, their young will lie down together. The lion will eat hay like
the ox. The infant will play over the den of the adder; the baby will
put his hand into the viper's lair. No hurt, no harm will be done on
all my holy mountain, for the country will be full of knowledge of
Yahweh as the waters cover the sea. That day, the root of Jesse,
standing as a signal for the peoples, will be sought out by the
nations and its home will be glorious.

ROMANS 15:4-9
And all these things which were written so long ago were written so
that we, learning perseverance and the encouragement which the
scriptures give, should have hope. Now the God of perseverance and
encouragement give you all the same purpose, following the example of
Christ Jesus, so that you may together give glory to the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with one heart. Accept one another,
then, for the sake of God's glory, as Christ accepted you. I tell you
that Christ's work was to serve the circumcised, fulfilling the
truthfulness of God by carrying out the promises made to the fathers,
and his work was also for the gentiles, so that they should give glory
to God for his faithful love; as scripture says: For this I shall
praise you among the nations and sing praise to your name.

MATTHEW 3:1-12
In due course John the Baptist appeared; he proclaimed this message in
the desert of Judaea, 'Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is close at
hand.' This was the man spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said:
A voice of one that cries in the desert, 'Prepare a way for the Lord,
make his paths straight.' This man John wore a garment made of camel-
hair with a leather loin-cloth round his waist, and his food was
locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judaea and the whole
Jordan district made their way to him, and as they were baptised by
him in the river Jordan they confessed their sins. But when he saw a
number of Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism he said to them,
'Brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming retribution?
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance, and do not presume to tell
yourselves, "We have Abraham as our father," because, I tell you, God
can raise children for Abraham from these stones. Even now the axe is
being laid to the root of the trees, so that any tree failing to
produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown on the fire. I baptise
you in water for repentance, but the one who comes after me is more
powerful than I, and I am not fit to carry his sandals; he will
baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fan is in his
hand; he will clear his threshing-floor and gather his wheat into his
barn; but the chaff he will burn in a fire that will never go out.'

REFLECTION
Advent is a time of waiting, but Advent waiting is a joy because we
wait with assurance. The Lord has already come by birth as man, is at
present coming in mysterious ways and will one day come again in
visible majesty. Waiting is a mixed experience. We wait for Christ
that way. Christ means far more than money or success to us. He means
salvation. Will we make a good impression on him when he arrives? Will
he be satisfied with us, with our way of serving him? Will he accept
us, take us into his kingdom?

John the Baptist told the people of his day that they were not
acceptable. They had to reform. The Greek word matanoia means "change
your mind". Once we change our minds in favor of God and his way, we
feel unsatisfied with our former life, and we turn to God and his way.
We are converted. This is the process John the Baptist is demanding.
The people were waiting passively for the Messiah. John told them:
"Wait by reforming".

Do we need to reform if we are already converted? For an answer, we
turn to John the Baptist and the Jewish people. John conceded that
they were children of Abraham, but he warned them that that was not
enough. Those were mere physical realities. Without the spiritual
changes that should go with them, the people would perish.

Jesus, in his own preaching, confirmed what John was saying. If Jesus
spoke to us today, what would he say? We have to remember that reform
is a process, the gradual process of having our mind take on Christ's
mind, and our hear t take on Christ's heart.

There are three particular ways to work at our reform. The first is to
fight against the worldliness that blocks out God – that makes us too
busy to wait for Christ. We may be in church but our hearts won't be.
Our hearts will be too busy with our own af fairs.

The second particular reform is to end our failure to be brothers,
sisters and friends. St. Paul calls for this reform in today's second
reading. And if we go to meet others more than half way, we will meet
Christ on Christmas. We will even be meeting him on the way to
Christmas, for he says: "What you do to others, you do to me".

The third particular reform is to grow in love within our immediate
family. In a way, all preparation for Christ consists in growing in
love, and our family is always a good proving ground for love.

Just get started. Any improvement shown by Christmas will be a gift
and a promise of more that will be a pleasing Christmas present for
Christ and our family.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the speedy recovery and healing of
- Deacon Joe Nicholas
- Jo Marcelo, Jun Lee, Mon Torres, Fleur Torres, Peping Torres, John
Lawrence
- Vicky Fabella
- Susan
… for the personal intentions of
- Josheil Dapo
- Luis Torres
… for the eternal repose of the souls of
- Jermine Louen Abalos
- Ramon Ibanga
- Father Mel Sprute
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: Myrra Famy
- Birthday: Mario J. Rotea
- Birthday: Felicidad K. Uy
- Birthday: Aimee Luz D. Go
- Birthday: Sophia Sim Bate
- Birthday: Chynna Denis Tan
- Prayer Intention: Keng Koc & Mary Co
- Prayer Intention: Vicky Roman
- In Memoriam (+): Luis V. Artiaga, Jr.
… 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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