DAILY- HOMILY: 01/28/12

DAILY- HOMILY

DAILY-HOMILY is a Catholic-based Scripture and Homily Reflections. It is a great source for scripture readings, homilies and reflections for Weekdays, Sundays and Holydays of Obligation. Subscribe to this list and you will receive a free, informed, down to earth and illustrated homilies focusing on the readings on Weekday & Sunday Masses, Liturgical Services or personal reflection. And best of all it's a FREE service. To subscribe or unsubscribe send email to: dailyhomily@gmail.com

Saturday, January 28, 2012

4TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – B

JANUARY 29, 2012
4TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – B

Dt 18:15-20 / 1 Cor 7:32-35 / Mk 1:21-28

DEUTERONOMY 18:15-20
He will raise up for you a prophet like myself from among the people,
from your brothers, to whom you shall listen. Remember that in Horeb,
on the day of the Assembly, you said: "I am afraid to die and I do not
want to hear the voice of Yahweh again or see again that great fire."
So Yahweh said to me: "They have spoken well. I shall raise up a
prophet from their midst, one of their brothers, who will be like you.
I will put my words into his mouth and he will tell them all that I
command. If someone does not listen to my words when the prophet
speaks on my behalf, I myself will call him to account for it. But any
prophet who says in my name anything that I did not command, or speaks
in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die."

1 CORINTHIANS 7:32-35
I would like you to be free from anxieties. He who is not married is
concerned about the things of the Lord and how to please the Lord.
While he who is married is taken up with the things of the world and
how to please his wife, and he is divided in his interests. Likewise,
the unmarried woman and the virgin are concerned with the service of
the Lord, to be holy in body and spirit. The married woman, instead,
worries about the things of the world and how to please her husband. I
say this for your own good. I do not wish to lay traps for you but to
lead you to a beautiful life, entirely united with the Lord.

MARK 1:21-28
They went into the town of Capernaum and Jesus taught in the synagogue
on the sabbath day. The people were astonished at the way he taught,
for he spoke as one having authority and not like the teachers of the
Law. It happened that a man with an evil spirit was in their
synagogue, and he shouted, "What do you want with us, Jesus of
Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: you are the
Holy One of God." Then Jesus faced him and said with authority, "Be
silent, and come out of this man!" The evil spirit shook the man
violently and, with a loud shriek, came out of him. All the people
were astonished, and they wondered, "What is this? With what authority
he preaches! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him!"
And Jesus' fame spread throughout all the country of Galilee.

REFLECTION
Today's Gospel sparks a reflection on the teaching of Jesus which is
recognized as a "completely new teaching in a spirit of authority."
Jesus was a wonderful teacher. Not only did he teach, but – and this
is an important point of today's Gospel message – he also practiced
what he taught! He didn't teach by words only, no matter how lofty his
words may have been. He taught by his actions, by the way he lived,
and by what he did for others. We can say that his teaching "rang
true" not because of beautiful words or because of some great gift or
rhetorical oratory; it "rang true" because people could see that his
teaching was supported by his own practice and lifestyle.

The Gospel tells us that the people were spellbound and amazed when he
expelled the unclean spirit from the possessed man. "A completely new
teaching in a spirit of authority!" they exclaimed, as they saw that
the authority of Jesus was a power that the unclean spirit could not
resist. They called his "teaching" a "new" teaching because "he taught
with authority and not like their scribes." [Matthew7:29] That
authority was not because he was a "legally" appointed teacher who had
been given some mandate to teach by the religious authorities of his
day, nor had he been given an official certification to be a teacher.
His authority came from the mission that he had received from his
Father. As he himself explained after the experience of his baptism,
his mission for which he was anointed by the Spirit was "to bring glad
tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, recovery of
sight to the blind and release to prisoners" [Luke 4:15]. His teaching
was the liberating teaching for which he was authorized by the Father
and anointed by the Spirit. Yes, it was a "spellbinding" teaching so
unlike the teaching of the scribes who were the official teachers of
the law.

When Jesus confronted the scribes about their way of teaching, he was
quite blunt and forceful. It is quite true that many of the words of
their teaching may have been the right words, according to the
development of the rabbinic traditions of the time to which the people
had become accustomed. Jesus, however, noted that "their words are
bold but their deeds are few. They bind up heavy loads, hard to carry,
to lay on other men's shoulders, while they themselves will not lift a
finger to budge them." [Matthew 23:4] – far from the liberating
teaching for which Jesus was sent and anointed. No wonder the people
were spellbound by the teaching of Jesus! And it was no wonder that
throughout his ministry, Jesus was in frequent conflict with the
scribes and other religious leaders. They, too, were spellbound by his
teachings, but not because they felt their minds or hearts positively
resonating with what Jesus was teaching. They were spellbound in a
totally negative way. They were actually "hurt to the quick" because
they could see well enough that Jesus was exposing their hypocrisy.
And in the eyes of the people, they had no defense.

Another character that was so upset, according to our Gospel reading,
was the unclean spirit that had possessed the man who had caught
Jesus' attention. With clarity of insight, the unclean spirit knew
very well who and what this Jesus was. "I know who you are – the Holy
One of God!" The unclean spirit upon seeing Jesus trembled and
shrieked: "What do you want of us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to
destroy us?" How well the demons sense that what Jesus comes to
destroy is the non-liberating power of evil.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the speedy recovery and healing of
- Francis and Angelito
- Ananias
- Renan Lacida and Rowena Yap
- Chief Samrose Anyaugo
- Tung-Jou Sheh
- Cecilia Yu
- Jon Arellano
- Mylene Lingad
… for the personal intentions of
- Dr Ugonna Anyaugo, Ogechi Anyaugo,Barr Obinna Okoronkwo,Barr Mrs
Barbara Okoronkwo. Ifeanyi Anyaugo,Chuba Anyaugo,'Cordelia
Anyaugo .Kelechi Ozurumba
- Hugo, Udo ,Owen and Adanna
- Cordelia
- Josheil Dapo
… Prayer intentions: 1st Communicants at Maninagar, Ahmedabad, India
... Birthday: Evelyn Brown
… for the eternal repose of the soul of Annalie. 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: Marie Antoinette R. Evidente
- In Memoriam (+): Librada M. Ong
… 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

# posted by F O O D F O R T H O U G H T @ 12:49 PM 0 comments

SATURDAY 3RD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR II

JANUARY 28, 2012
MEMORIAL, SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS
SATURDAY 3RD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR II

2 Sm 12:1-7a, 10-17 / Mk 4:35-41

2 SAMUEL 12:1-7A, 10-17
So Yahweh sent the prophet Nathan to David. Nathan went to the king
and said to him, "There were two men in a city: one was rich; the
other, poor. The rich man had many sheep and cattle, but the poor man
had only one little ewe lamb he had bought. He himself fed it and it
grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his
cup and slept on his lap. It was like a daughter to him. Now a
traveler came to the rich man, but he would not take from his own
flock or herd to prepare food for the traveler. Instead, he took the
poor man's lamb and prepared that for his visitor." David was furious
because of this man and told Nathan, "As Yahweh lives, the man who has
done this deserves death! He must return the lamb fourfold for acting
like this and showing no compassion." Nathan said to David, "You are
this man! It is Yahweh, God of Israel, who speaks: `I anointed you
king over Israel and saved you from Saul's hands. Now the sword will
never be far from your family because you have despised me and taken
the wife of Uriah the Hittite for yourself. Thus says Yahweh: Your
misfortune will rise from your own house! I will take your wives from
you and give them to your neighbor who shall lie with them in broad
daylight. What you did was done secretly, but what I do will be done
before Israel in broad daylight." David said to Nathan, "I have sinned
against Yahweh." Nathan answered him, "Yahweh has forgiven your sin;
you shall not die. However, because you have dared to despise Yahweh
by doing such a thing, the child that is born to you shall die." Then
Nathan left and went to his house. Yahweh struck the child that
Uriah's wife bore to David and it became sick. David entreated God for
the child; he kept a strict fast and lay on the ground the whole
night. The elders of his house asked him to rise from the ground but
he refused. Nor did he join them to eat.

MARK 4:35-41
On that same day, when evening had come, Jesus said to them, "Let's go
across to the other side." So they left the crowd, and took him away
in the boat he had been sitting in, and other boats set out with him.
Then a storm gathered and it began to blow a gale. The waves spilled
over into the boat, so that it was soon filled with water. Jesus was
in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. They woke him up, and said,
"Master, don't you care if we drown?" And rising up, Jesus rebuked the
wind, and ordered the sea, "Quiet now! Be still!" The wind dropped,
and there was a great calm. Then Jesus said to them, "Why are you so
frightened? Do you still have no faith?" But they were terrified, and
they said to one another, "Who can this be? Even the wind and the sea
obey him!"

REFLECTION
Today's Gospel reminds us how truly privileged we are as Christians.
Our God is always there with His presence, His care, His concern, His
perfect love. These blessings are for us to experience, savor, and
value anytime we need to, anytime we want to, and anytime we dare to.

All too often however, like the scared apostles in the boat buffeted
by strong winds, we despair, waver, and lose faith when confronted
with seemingly insurmountable problems even while God is always there
for us.

How many times did we doubt God's plan for us - during times of
illness, financial difficulties, troubled relationships, natural
calamities, emotional upheavals? How many times does God have to
"still the winds, calm the seas" so that we can be reassured, we can
be certain that He shall lift us up when we need Him?

Let us pray not so much for God's help as it shall always be there in
ways that we may not readily realize nor appreciate, but rather, let
us ask the Lord for the gift of discernment and constant faith that He
will give what is always best for us.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the speedy recovery and healing of
- Sonny, Lily
- Mon Torres
- Rakkie Villa
- Francis and Angelito
- Ananias
- Renan Lacida and Rowena Yap
- Chief Samrose Anyaugo
- Tung-Jou Sheh
- Cecilia Yu
- Jon Arellano
- Mylene Lingad
… for the personal intentions of
- Veronica Yap
- Dr Ugonna Anyaugo, Ogechi Anyaugo,Barr Obinna Okoronkwo,Barr Mrs
Barbara Okoronkwo. Ifeanyi Anyaugo,Chuba Anyaugo,'Cordelia
Anyaugo .Kelechi Ozurumba
- Hugo, Udo ,Owen and Adanna
- Cordelia
- Josheil Dapo
… for the eternal repose of the souls of
- Buenaventura Pascual Wenceslao
- Annalie
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: Bheverlie T. Semitara
… for families who are in need of healing
… for world peace and reconciliation.