DAILY- HOMILY

MARCH 3, 2011
MEMORIAL, BLESSED KATHARINE DREXEL, VIRGIN
THURSDAY 8TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR I

Sir 42:15-25 / Ps 33:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9 / Mk 10:46-52

SIRACH 42:15-25
Now I shall remind you of the works of the Lord and relate what I have
seen. The Lord's works depend on his word, and creation obeys his
will. The sun shines on everything and the work of the Lord is filled
with his glory. Not even to his holy ones has the Lord given full
knowledge of all his marvelous works. The Lord, Master of the
universe, has ordained that all should stand firm in his glory. He
penetrates both the depth of the abyss and the human heart and knows
their secrets. For the Most High has full knowledge and ordains the
signs of the heavens. He knows the past and foretells the future and
reveals the traces of the world's mysteries. No thought escapes him,
no word is hidden from him. He has ordered the marvelous works of his
wisdom, from ever and for ever. Nothing can be added, nothing can be
taken away and he has no need of counsel. All his works are beautiful,
even to the smallest spark of light. All this lives and endures
forever: all is useful and obedient to his will. All things are in
pairs, one opposite the other, and nothing he makes is in any way
deficient. One thing emphasizes the excellence of the other; who could
ever weary of admiring his glory?

MARK 10:46-52
As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a large crowd, a
blind beggar, Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sit ting by the
roadside. On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth passing by, he
began to call out, "Son of David, Jesus, have mercy on me!" Many
people scolded him and told him to keep quiet, but he shouted all the
louder, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" Jesus stopped and said,
"Call him." So they called the blind man saying, "Take heart. Get up,
he is calling you." He immediately threw aside his cloak, jumped up
and went to Jesus. Then Jesus asked him, "What do you want me to do
for you?" The blind man said, "Master, let me see again!" And Jesus
said to him, "Go your way, your faith has made you well." And
immediately he could see, and he followed Jesus along the road.

REFLECTION
When we read miracle stories, we often focus on Jesus and are awed by
his power. But in the Gospel reading today, Jesus declared to
Bartimaeus: "It is your faith that made you well." Bartimaeus was ill
on different levels. Physically, he was blind. Socially, he was poor
and rejected. Spiritually, he was dejected and perhaps felt abandoned,
believing that his illness was a punishment for his sins. But he had
faith in Jesus and manifested this by defying the crowd to ask for
mercy for his eyesight to return. He did not ask for riches or fame,
he only asked for his eyesight back. He focused on the illness that
was bringing the rest of his life down Finally, the greatest act of
his faith was to follow Jesus. He could just have thanked Jesus and
gone on his way but Bartimaeus followed the path to true and full
recovery! By regaining his eyesight, Bartimaeus was able to see the
world again, but by following Jesus he saw beyond the world.

Many of us are inflicted with different kinds of illnesses. Some of us
are physically incapacitated, others are socially deprived, while
there are those who are spiritually jaded. Jesus is telling us that
healing is possible if we have faith. Like Bartimaeus we only have to
call on the Lord, ask for forgiveness and work on the root of our
illness. But the healing process is not complete once we get back what
we lost. To ensure full recovery the Lord prescribes not just a pill,
but a full lifestyle, a Christ-like lifestyle. When we follow Jesus,
we do not only get back what we lost, we gain more of what we never
had as well. Can we follow the example of Bartimaeus?

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the speedy recovery and healing of
- Nel de Leon
- Jo Marcelo
- Jun Lee
- Lydia Pe
- Juday Pe
… for the personal intentions of
- Margarite Ponce de Leon
- Veronica Yap
… Birthday: Dolores Go
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Romeo M. Diaz
- Birthday: Erlinda Panlilio
- Birthday: Marina Asekquia
- Wedding Anniversary: Ian & January Ngchee So
… 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!

**************************************************

These reflections are distributed free and are for personal use only.
Feel free to send the Daily Prayer reflections to your friends,
colleagues and relatives; however, if you do, please include the
following:

+================================================+
| The Daily Prayer, a service and an apostolate of the
| priests, laity and friends of Mary the Queen Parish
| http://www.marythequeen.org
| Distributed free and for personal use only.
+================================================+

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GoogleGroup Address: http://groups.google.com/group/daily_homily
To subscribe from this free mailing service, send email to: dailyhomily@earthlink.net
To unsubscribe: daily_homily-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com

© 2011 Daily-Homily