DAILY- HOMILY

November 26, 2013

Tuesday 34^th Week in Ordinary Time- Year I

Memorial, St. John Berchmans, religious

Dn 2:31-45 / Dn 3: 57. 58. 59. 60. 61 / Lk 21:5-11

Daniel 2:31-45

In your vision you saw a statue —very large, very bright, terrible to look at. Its head was of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. As you watched, a rock cut from a mountain but not by human hands, struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, smashing them. All at once the iron, clay, bronze, silver and gold crumbled into pieces as fine as chaff on the threshing floor in summer. The windswept them off and not a trace was left. But the rock that struck the statue be- came a great mountain that filled the whole earth. That was the dream. Now the interpretation. You, O king, are king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given dominion, strength, power and glory, and into whose hand he has placed humankind, the beasts of the field and the birds of the air, making you ruler over them. You are that head of gold. After you, another kingdom inferior to yours will rise. Then a third kingdom of bronze will rule the whole world. Last shall be a fourth kingdom strong as iron and just as iron breaks and crushes everything else, so will it break and smash all the others. The partly-clay and partly-iron feet and toes mean that it will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron, just as you saw iron mixed with clay. And as the toes were partly iron and partly clay, the kingdom will be partly strong and partly weak. Just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, the people will be a mixture but will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay. In the time of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom never to be destroyed or delivered up to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and put an end to them. And it will endure forever. This is the meaning of your vision of a rock cut from a mountain not by human hands, the rock which struck the statue and broke into pieces the iron, bronze, clay, silver and gold. The great God has shown the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation reliable."

Luke 21:5-11

While some people were talking about the Temple, remarking that it was adorned with fine stonework and rich gifts, Jesus said to them, "The days will come when there shall not be left one stone upon another of all that you now admire; all will be torn down." And they asked him, "Master, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?" Jesus then said, "Take care not to be deceived, for many will come claiming my title and saying, 'I am he, the Messiah; the Time is at hand!' Do not follow them. When you hear of wars and troubled Times, don't be frightened; for all these things must happen first, even though the end is not so soon." And Jesus said, "Nations will fight each other and kingdom will oppose kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and plagues; in many places strange and terrifying signs from heaven will be seen.

Reflection

The signs mentioned in today's gospel seems happening today. We are indeed in troubled times. Just read the newspapers and you know what's going on in the world: wars, famines, earthquakes, and new plagues. These events may frighten us, but they serve a purpose of merely trying to awaken us than to frighten us. In fact, the Lord tells us not to be afraid. We need to keep our faith firmly in place in order not to be easily deceived by the world. Jesus Christ is quite clear in asking us not to follow those who will be "anti-Christ." Anti-Christ means to be anti-love. The false prophets will deceive us to deny the cross of Christ, and dwell in the fine stonework and rich gifts that the world may offer. So Christ breaks to us the reality that the temple and the world will not last. All is vanity, vain glory for those who put their trust in man and all his worldly extensions. The symbol of the Christian is the palm tree which can last in any weather and remains green. It means faith can withstand the onslaught of secularization, keeping clear the commandments of the Lord and maintaining a sound judgment with prudence and a mature conscience to guide our paths. We need to run the good race with the strength of the Holy Spirit until the very end.

Prayer Requests

We pray …

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

… for the speedy recovery and healing of Don Dinning's brother

… for the eternal repose of the souls of Elsa Supsup. 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: Auralyn R. Acosta

Birthday: Cherry Ricanor

Birthday: Flynn Dominic A. Saw

Wedding Anniversary: Carlos & Carren Pineda

In Memoriam (+): Antonio G. Tan Giok Kun (Feb 3, 1916 - Nov 26, 2010)

In Memoriam (+): Chan Tat Min

… 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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