DAILY- HOMILY

DECEMBER 25, 2011
SOLEMNITY OF OUR LORD'S BIRTH

Is 52: 7-10 / Ps 98: 1, 2-3, 3-4, 5-6 / Heb 1: 1-6 / Jn 1: 1-18

ISAIAH 52:7-10
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good
news, who herald peace and happiness, who proclaim salvation and
announce to Zion: "Your God is king!" Together your watchmen raise
their voices in praise and song; they see Yahweh face to face
returning to Zion. Break into shouts of joy, O ruins of Jerusalem, for
Yahweh consoles his people and redeems Jerusalem. Yahweh has bared his
holy arm in the eyes of the nations; all the ends of the earth, in
alarm, will witness God's salvation.

HEBREWS 1:1-6
Brothers and sisters: God has spoken in the past to our ancestors
through the prophets, in many different ways, although never
completely; but in our times he has spoken definitively to us through
his Son. He is the one God appointed heir of all things, since through
him he unfolded the stages of the world. He is the radiance of God's
Glory and bears the stamp of God's hidden being, so that his powerful
word upholds the universe. And after taking away sin, he took his
place at the right hand of the divine Majesty in heaven. So he is now
far superior to angels just as the name he received sets him apart
from them. To what angel did God say: You are my son, I have begotten
you today? And to what angel did he promise: I shall be a father to
him and he will be a son to me? On sending his Firstborn to the world,
God says: Let all the angels adore him.

JOHN 1:1-18
In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and the Word
was God; he was in the beginning with God. All things were made
through him and without him nothing came to be. Whatever has come to
be, found life in him, life which for humans was also light. Light
that shines in the dark: light that darkness could not overcome. A man
came, sent by God; his name was John. He came to bear witness, as a
witness to introduce the Light so that all might believe through him.
He was not the Light but a witness to introduce the Light. For the
Light was coming into the world, the true Light that enlightens
everyone. He was already in the world and through him the world was
made, the very world that did not know him. He came to his own, yet
his own people did not receive him; but all who have received him he
empowers to become children of God for they believe in his Name. These
are born, but without seed or carnal desire or will of man: they are
born of God. And the Word was made flesh; he had his tent pitched
among us, and we have seen his Glory, the Glory of the only Son coming
from the Father: fullness of truth and loving-kindness. John bore
witness to him openly, saying: This is the one who comes after me, but
he is already ahead of me for he was before me. From his fullness we
have all received, favor upon favor. For God had given us the Law
through Moses, but Truth and Loving-kindness came through Jesus
Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God-the-Only-Son made him known:
the one who is in and with the Father.

REFLECTION
In our world today, where there is so much suffering both from natural
calamities such as earthquakes, typhoons, and floods, and from
lawlessness of people such as road accidents and armed conflicts. The
danger is for us to despair. Those who have the opportunity migrate to
other countries, others complain and criticize but do nothing. Still
others resort to violent means, thereby creating more problems and
sufferings. What we need today are people of hope, who follow Jesus'
example of love, service, and self-sacrifice.

The English writer John Ruskin left us with a beautiful image of what
Jesus wants us to be in our world. In Ruskin's time, electricity had
not yet been discovered. City streets were lit at night by gas lamps.
Cit y lamplighters had to go from lamp to lamp, lighting them with a
flaming torch. One night, when Ruskin was a very old man, he was sit
ting in front of a window in his house. Across the valley was a street
on a hillside. There, Ruskin could see the torch of the lamplighter
lighting lamps as he went. Because of the darkness, Ruskin could not
see the lamplighter, but he could see his torch and the trail of
lights it left behind him. After a few minutes, Ruskin turned to the
person next to him and said: "That's a good illustration of a
Christian. People may never have known him. They may never have met
him. They may never even have seen him. But they know he passed
through their world by the trail of lights he left lit behind him."

Christmas is an invitation for each one of us to be for our world what
Jesus was for his world: a beam of light in the midst of darkness, a
ray of hope in the midst of despair. To the ex tent that we heed the
invitation of Christmas, to that ex tent will the world receive the
gift of Christmas: Peace on earth and goodwill to all.

May God's peace shine on you and your family this Christmas.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the speedy recovery and healing of
- Cecilia Yu
- Racky Villa
- Gemma
- Chief Samrose Anyaugo
… for the personal intentions of
- Josheil Dapo
- Dr. Ugo Anyaugo, Mr. Ogechi Anyaugo, Barr Obinna Okoronkwo, Barr Mrs
Barbs Adaugo Okoronkwo, Mr .Ifeanyi Anyaugo, Mr Chuboy Anyaugo,
Cordelia Anyaugo
.. for the victims of the floods in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan and
their families
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Emmanuel G. Osalvo
- Birthday: Alex Dematera
- Birthday: Natividad Lumibao
- Wedding Anniversary: Mary & Christopher S. Lim
- Wedding Anniversary: Jeannette & Christopher Co Chan
- Prayer Intention: Castillo Family
… 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!

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

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