DAILY- HOMILY

December 13, 2013

Friday 2^nd Week of Advent - Year I

Memorial, Saint Lucy of Syracuse, virgin and martyr

Is 48:17-19 / Ps 1: 1-2. 3. 4 and 6 / 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 right- eousness 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 peo ple 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

Nowadays, it is so important that we get our facts straight. We check and double check to make sure that the information we have is accurate. And so we ask questions, clarify and analyze so that we can arrive at a correct judgment about our information. Simple, isn't it? And yet, we find in the gospel how in our want to be accurate we fail to see the truth. We miss out on the truth about who Christ is. We read that when the Son of Man came, he ate and he drank and everyone. Some said he was a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and other outcasts. No one seemed to recognize him to be the Christ, the Messiah, the King.

The people today may be compared to children sitting in the marketplace, seemingly uninvolved with the on-goings around them. Music is played but people don't dance. Funeral songs are sung but no one is crying. What has happened to us? The innocence of a child is no more. We use our minds to make sense of all that we experience but we miss out on the more important aspect of believing and having faith in the One who loves us. As we see in the gospel today, it was difficult for the people then to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. Sadly, it can also be quite a challenge for us to recognize Christ today. If we keep our minds at work and fail to recognize the Lord with the eyes of our hearts, it would be such a big loss for us.

My Lord, help me to recognize you in my daily comings and goings. Grant me your grace to see and recognize you always – in every person and in everything around me.

Prayer Requests

We pray …

… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.

… for the speedy recovery and healing of Ditas dela Paz, Toots Monfort, Virginia Hernandez, and Fleur Torres

… for the personal intentions of

Pauline

Beny Chua

Joshua Chua

… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.

Birthday: Harold S. Macasaquit

Birthday: Rong S. Hua

Birthday: James Lim Yu

Birthday: Jessica Ho Gotamco

Birthday: Christian Emmanuel Ching

Birthday: Sofia Magalona

In Memoriam (+): James Yao E. Heong

… 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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