DAILY- HOMILY

November 27, 2013

Wednesday 34^th Week in Ordinary Time - Year I

Dn 5:1-6,13-14,16-17,23-28 / Dn 3: 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67 / Lk 21:12-19

Daniel 5:1-6,13-14,16-17,23-28

King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for his nobles, a thousand of them attended and he drank wine with them. Under the influence of wine, he ordered that the gold and silver vessels his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem be brought in so that he and his nobles, his wives and concubines might drink from them. The gold and silver vessels taken from God's temple were brought in, and the king and his nobles, his wives and concubines drank from them. While they drank wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze and iron, of wood and stone. Suddenly a man's fingers appeared opposite the lamp stand and wrote on the plastered wall of the king's palace. Watching the hand as it wrote, the king turned pale. So terrified was he that his knees knocked and his legs gave way. Daniel was brought in and questioned by the king, "Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father brought from Judah? I have heard that you have the spirit of the gods, that you have insight and extraordinary wisdom. I have heard that you can interpret dreams and solve problems. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be clothed in purple, wear a gold chain around your neck, and be appointed third in rank in my kingdom." Daniel replied, "You may keep your gifts or give them to someone else. Just the same I will read and interpret the writing for you. You have defied the Lord of heaven. You had the vessels from his temple brought to you, and together with your nobles, your wives and concubines, you drank wine from them. You praised the idols made of silver and gold, of bronze, iron and stones, which neither see, nor hear, nor understand; but you never glorified God who has power over your life and all your fortunes. So he sent the hand that wrote the inscription which read MENE, TE KEL, PARSIN. And these words mean: MENE, God has numbered the days of your reign and put an end to it; TEKEL, you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting; PARSIN, your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and the Persians."

Luke 21:12-19

Before all these things happen, people will lay their hands on you and persecute you; you will be delivered to the synagogues and put in prison, and for my sake you will be brought before kings and governors. This will be your opportunity to bear witness. So keep this in mind: do not worry in advance about what to say, for I will give you words and wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends, and some of you will be put to death. But even though, because of my name, you will be hated by everyone, not a hair of your head will perish. By your patient endurance you will save your souls.

Reflection

Every word that Christ prophesied has been fulfilled. After the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost, we saw how his disciples were indeed persecuted, imprisoned and put to death as he had said would happen. Then during the time of the persecution of the early Church in Rome, the Christians were betrayed by their relations and friends who testified against them for believing in this "strange doctrine." Those who are now truly disciples of Christ will undergo persecution as Christ did. Why is this? It is because true disciples of Christ have the same mind as Christ; and Christ's thinking is very different from the world's. No matter what generation we find ourselves in, as long as we believe in the truth that Christ taught and lived by it, we will come across people who will dislike us or even hate us simply for thinking differently from them.

If we have never experienced persecution, maybe we are not truly disciples of Christ. Maybe we should also start to think whether we seriously want to be disciples of Christ or not. Sometimes, we are afraid to speak in Christ's name when we see a relative or a friend act contrary to God's teachings for fear that we may lose his or her affection. How many times have we decided to do something because we were afraid of what others would think? Many married men for instance cannot say no to their friends when invited for regular drinking sessions and other escapades for fear of being laughed at. Many youth nowadays engage in premarital sex because they are afraid to be rejected by their partner if they refuse to do it. Let us not be afraid to speak and act in the name of Christ. We may lose face, the esteem of our friends and even be insulted for doing so but we will gain the life that comes from Christ, which is the true life, an inner life that lasts and brings about real joy.

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

Lorenzo Meoli

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

Birthday: Mila Grace M. Cipriano

Birthday: Justin Tanhui

Wedding Anniversary: Jobert & Lee Ochoa

Prayer Intention: Jeremy Lim Gotamco

In Memoriam (+): Jose Uy

… 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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