Friday, December 14, 2012

 

SATURDAY 2ND WEEK OF ADVENT – YEAR II

DECEMBER 15, 2012
SATURDAY 2ND WEEK OF ADVENT – YEAR II
Sir 48:1-4, 9-11 / Mt 17:9a, 10-13

SIRACH 48:1-4, 9-11
Then came the prophet Elijah like a fire, his words a burning torch. He brought a famine on the people and in his zealous love had them reduced in number. Speaking in the name of the Lord he closed the heavens, and on three occasions called down fire. How marvelous you were, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds! Who could ever boast of being your equal? You were taken up by a whirlwind of flames in a chariot drawn by fiery horses. It was written that you should be the one to calm God's anger in the future before it broke out in fury, to turn the hearts of fathers to their sons and to restore the tribes of Jacob. Happy are those who will see you and those who die in love, for we too shall live.

MATTHEW 17:9A, 10-13
And as they came down the mountain, Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone what they had just seen, until the Son of Man be raised from the dead. The disciples then asked him, "Why do the teachers of the Law say that Elijah must come first?" And Jesus answered, "So it is: first comes Elijah to set everything as it has to be. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, but they did not recognize him, and treated him as they pleased. And they will also make the Son of Man suffer." Then the disciples understood that Jesus was referring to John the Baptist.

REFLECTION
After seeing a miracle of the apparition of Moses and Elijah communing with Jesus, the apostles were reassured that Jesus is the Messiah who is destined to be the great liberator and ruler of Israel. In their hearts, Jesus will reign supreme as a king of the earth, crushing the enemies of Israel, with them becoming officers and lieutenants of his new kingdom. Little did the apostles know that the realm of Jesus' rule transcends this earth and its limits go beyond our comprehension. Their imperfect thinking led them to believe that the end goal of their lives is to acquire greatness and power in the corporal world. They didn't realize yet that the eternal glory they seek comes with self-sacrifice – by becoming servants to others to make God our Father known to all mankind so that all will worship Him and give Him praise and glory.

We often seek out material rewards for serving the Lord and following his ways. As we busy ourselves with our physical and worldly concerns, we tend to forget that our sole purpose of being is to be in communion with God who is divine in nature.

Let us pray: My Lord and Savior, help me understand and always remember that our purpose in living is not to gain worldly treasures (and glory) but to be in communion with you for eternity.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.
… for the speedy recovery and healing of Pam Cleveland
… for the personal intentions of Pauline
… for the eternal repose of the souls of
- Doddie Alvarado
- Bernarda Rivera
- Joel Ordiz
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: Celia Chua Jao
- Birthday: Arnold P. Paragsa
- In Memoriam (+): Vicente Dy Sun Sr.+
- In Memoriam (+): Yee Wei Koon
… 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
 
© 2012 Daily-Homily

 

MEMORIAL, ST JOHN OF THE CROSS

DECEMBER 14, 2012
MEMORIAL, ST JOHN OF THE CROSS
FRIDAY 2ND WEEK OF ADVENT – YEAR II

Is 48:17-19 / Mt 11:16-19

ISAIAH 48:17-19
Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I, Yahweh, your God, teach you what is best for you; I lead you in the way that you must go. Had you paid attention to my commandments, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea. Your descendants would have been like the sand, and those born of your stock like its grains, their names never cut off nor blotted out from my presence.

MATTHEW 11:16-19
Now, to what can I compare the people of this day? They are like children sitting in the marketplace, about whom their companions complain: `We played the flute for you, but you would not dance. We sang a funeral song, but you would not cry!' For John came fasting, and people said, `He is possessed.' Then the Son of Man came, he ate and drank, and people said, `Look at this man! A glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet the outcome will prove Wisdom to be right."

REFLECTION
In the Gospel, Jesus is admonishing the Jews for their incredulity. Not only did they reject the austerity of John the Baptist and in fact call him possessed, but they also questioned Jesus' approach of eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners. The problem with the Jews was that their hearts were hardened and their eyes blinded to the truth. They failed to perceive any action of God because they put themselves above other people and considered themselves as not needing reform. In other words, they were self-righteous.

But God did not think it foolish to send His only-begotten Son to our world to save us from our sins. So if we think that we do not need conversion, how will we be able to appreciate Christmas when it comes, since Jesus was born to save us from our sins? The people who know that there will always be some aspect in their life to reform are living in the truth. We need to look deep into ourselves to see what we can improve and change in us. Let us humble ourselves before Jesus. May Christmas find us in the manger scene and not out of it because we did not sufficiently prepare ourselves for the birth of our Savior.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.
… for the speedy recovery and healing of
- Mon Torres
- Fleur Torres
- Ditas dela Paz
- Pam Cleveland
… for the personal intentions of Pauline
… for the eternal repose of the souls of
- Doddie Alvarado
- Bernarda Rivera
- Joel Ordiz
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: Hubert See Co
- Wedding Anniversary: Carlos & Lynda Lao
- In Memoriam (+): Eusebio Cheng (Jan 4, 1921-Dec 14, 1999)+
- In Memoriam (+): Fernando Poe, Jr.
… 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
 
© 2012 Daily-Homily

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?