DAILY- HOMILY

NOVEMBER 9, 2011
FEAST OF THE DEDICATION OF THE LATERAN BASILICA IN ROME
WEDNESDAY 32ND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR I

Ez 43:1-2, 4-7 / Ps 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5, 8-9 / 1 Cor 3:9-11, 16-17 / Jn
2:13-22

EZEKIEL 47:1–2, 8–9, 12
The man brought me back to the entrance of the Temple and I saw water
coming out from the threshold of the Temple and flowing eastwards. The
Temple faced the east and the water flowed from the south side of the
Temple, from the south side of the altar. He then brought me out
through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate
facing the east and there I saw the stream coming from the south side.
He said to me, "This water goes to the east, down to the Arabah, and
when it flows into the sea of foul-smelling water, the water will
become wholesome. Wherever the river flows, swarms of creatures will
live in it; fish will be plentiful and the sea water will become
fresh. Wherever it flows, life will abound. Near the river on both
banks there will be all kinds of fruit trees with foliage that will
not wither and fruit that will never fail; each month they will bear a
fresh crop because the water comes from the Temple. The fruit will be
good to eat and the leaves will be used for healing.

JOHN 2:13-22
As the Passover of the Jews was at hand, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
In the Temple court he found merchants selling oxen, sheep and doves,
and money-changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he
drove them all out of the Temple court, together with the oxen and
sheep. He knocked over the tables of the money-changers, scattering
the coins, and ordered the people selling doves, "Take all this away
and stop turning my Father's house into a marketplace!" His disciples
recalled the words of Scripture: Zeal for your House devours me as a
fire. The Jews then questioned Jesus, "Where are the miraculous signs
which give you the right to do this?" And Jesus said, "Destroy this
temple and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews then replied,
"The building of this temple has already taken forty-six years, and
you will raise it up in three days?" Actually, Jesus was referring to
the temple of his body. Only when he had risen from the dead did his
disciples remember these words; then they believed both the Scripture
and the words Jesus had spoken.

REFLECTION
Here we see the human Christ filled with emotion; we can even say he
was quite passionate. When he saw that merchants and money changers
set up shop around the temple, something led him to raise a hand and
drive them all away. What was it that so offended Jesus? It wasn't so
much that the merchants were an eyesore, but rather that they were
interfering with the real purpose for coming to the temple which is to
pray. And if we know one thing, it is that Jesus is very passionate
about prayer.

We ourselves are quite passionate about many things. When something
that we are passionate about is threatened, we readily take a stand
and defend it. If you are fortunate enough to take a tour of Europe,
you will find that many of the tourist attractions are grand old
churches. Thousands of people visit these sites every day. While many
are awed by the magnificence of these structures, they do not
understand the true purpose why the churches were built. Their vision
is limited only to the architecture; hence they quickly get jaded
after having visited so many churches. To those who have a passion for
prayer though, it truly makes for a marvelous experience.

How do we nurture passion for prayer? We know that prayer is
communication with God, but most of us want more. We don't want better
prayer techniques – we want passion in our prayer. It entails proper
focus and attitude in prayer. It means avoiding distractions and
having persistence in prayer. It means keeping our prayer time and
never allowing anything to disrupt it. We don't just want to
communicate with God during prayer time – we want communion with God,
to be one with Him with our all our hear t, with all our mind, with
all our soul.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the speedy recovery and healing of
- Sam Rose Anyaugo
- Candido
- Susan
… for the personal intentions of
- Linda O, Mary Ann, Delores, Nick, Martha, Brian, Michael G, Josh,
Zina, Kristen, Maureen, Frank, & Gene
- Pam, Eugene R & Dana
- Veronica Yap
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Lorenzo Panganiban
- Birthday: Lily Ong
- Birthday: Se Wai Lee
- Presbyterial Ordination: Salvador Nocomora
… for families who are in need of healing
… 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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