DAILY- HOMILY

March 31, 2014
Monday Fourth Week of Lent 

Is 65: 17-21 / Ps 30: 2 and 4, 5-6, 11-12a and 13b / Jn 4: 43-54

Reading: Is 65: 17-21
I now create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind again. Be glad forever and rejoice in what I create; for I create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people. The sound of distress and the voice of weeping will not be heard in it any more. You will no longer know of dead children or of adults who do not live out a lifetime. One who reaches a hundred years will have died a mere youth, but one who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant crops and eat their fruit.   

Gospel: Jn 4: 43-54
When the two days were over, Jesus left for Galilee. Jesus himself said that no prophet is recognized in his own country. Yet the Galileans welcomed him when he arrived, because of all the things he had done in Jerusalem during the Festival and which they had seen. For they, too, had gone to the feast. Jesus went back to Cana of Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. At Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill, and when he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and asked him to come and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Jesus said, "Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe!" The official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies." And Jesus replied, "Go, your son is living." The man had faith in the word that Jesus spoke to him and went his way. He was already going down the hilly road when his servants met him with this news, "Your son has recovered!" So he asked them at what hour the child had begun to recover and they said to him, "The fever left him yesterday in the afternoon about one o'clock." And the father realized that it was the time when Jesus told him, "Your son is living." And he became a believer, he and all his family. Jesus performed this second miraculous sign when he returned from Judea to Galilee.

Reflection:
     Jesus is the "YES" of the Father as we see in the Gospel of today. Regardless of the condition, even if he says that we do not believe in him unless we see signs and wonders, as soon as we ask him, he gives us what we ask for. His promise to us is that the Father will give us whatever we ask Him in the name of Jesus. No conditions asked. He will grant it!  Do we believe? Do you believe in Jesus?
     "Your son will live." Jesus tells the court official. Rich or poor, Jesus cannot refuse when we ask him. His nature is always to give life. "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. So, if he says, "go," let us go. Answered prayers. Jesus gives us a very simple formula to have answered prayers: BELIEVE IN JESUS.
     Jesus challenges us to" BELIEVE IN HIM" even without signs and wonders, even before our answered prayers. 

Prayer Requests:
We pray ...
... for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.
... for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
... 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. 
  +================================================+

March 30, 2014
Fourth Sunday of Lent 
[Laetare Sunday]

1 Sm 16: 1b, 6-7, 10-13a / Ps 23: 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6 (1) / Eph 5: 8-14 / Jn 9: 1-41 or 9:1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38

First Reading: 1 Sm 16:1b. 6-7. 10-13a
Yahweh asked Samuel, "How long will you be grieving over Saul whom I have rejected as king of Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way to Jesse the Bethlehemite for I have chosen my king from among his sons. As they came, Samuel looked at Eliab the older and thought, "This must be Yahweh's anointed." But Yahweh told Samuel, "Do not judge by his looks or his stature for I have rejected him. Yahweh does not judge as man judges; humans see with the eyes; Yahweh sees the heart." Jesse presented seven of his sons to Samuel who said, "Yahweh has chosen none of them. But are all your sons here?" Jesse replied, "There is still the youngest, tending the flock just now." Samuel said to him, "Send for him and bring him to me; we shall not sit down to eat until he arrives." So Jesse sent for his youngest son and brought him to Samuel. He was a handsome lad with ruddy complexion and beautiful eyes. And Yahweh spoke, "Go, anoint him for he is the one." Samuel then took the horn of oil and anointed him in his brothers' presence. From that day onwards, Yahweh's Spirit took hold of David.

Second Reading: Eph 5:8-14
You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Behave as children of light; the fruits of light are kindness, justice and truth in every form. You yourselves search out what pleases the Lord, and take no part in works of darkness that are of no benefit; expose them instead.  Indeed it is a shame even to speak of what those people do in secret, but as soon as it is exposed to the light, everything becomes clear; and what is unmasked, becomes clear through light. Therefore it is said: "Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead that the light of Christ may shine on you."

Gospel: Jn 9:1,6-9, 13-17, 34-38
As Jesus walked along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. As Jesus said this, he made paste with spittle and clay and rubbed it on the eyes of the blind man. Then he said, "Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam." (This name means sent.) So he went and washed and came back able to see. His neighbors and all the people who used to see him begging, wondered. They said, "Isn't this the beggar who used to sit here?" Some said, "It's the one."  Others said, "No, but he looks like him."  But the man himself said, "I am the one." The people brought the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made mud paste and opened his eyes. The Pharisees asked him again, "How did you recover your sight?" And he said, "He put paste on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see." Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he works on the Sabbath"; but others wondered, "How can a sinner perform such miraculous signs?" They were divided and they questioned the blind man again, "What do you think of this man who opened your eyes?" And he answered, "He is a prophet." They answered him, "You were born a sinner and now you teach us!" And they expelled him. Jesus heard that they had expelled him. He found him and said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" He answered, "Who is he, that I may believe in him?" Jesus said, "You have seen him and he is speaking to you. He said, "Lord, I believe"; and he worshiped him.

Reflection: 
     Blindness is one of those preventable diseases that afflict the Philippine population. An estimated half a million people in the country are blind and according to the experts these could have been prevented. The leading cause of blindness is cataract, and the cure is simple but usually not available or too expensive in the Philippines. About 100 children lose their sight due to poor nutrition, measles or premature birth. 
     We see blind people boarding buses or trying to cross the street. How they are able to use their other senses to move around is something that continues to amaze us. But two thousand years ago the roads were primitive and there were no street audio tones to guide the blind. So it must have been a real joy for the blind to be given sight by Jesus. During that time, blindness was attributed to the sinfulness of one's parents. But Jesus corrected that false assumption when he, out of compassion and love, restored the sight of the blind man.  At first the crowd did not believe the cured blind man's story saying that he just looked like the blind beggar they knew. When questioned by the Pharisees the once blind man stated firmly that it was Jesus who gave him his sight by putting clay on his eyes. When pressured to condemn Jesus, the man told the Pharisees that Jesus was a prophet. This infuriated the authorities and since they could not counter his argument, they threw him out. Having heard this, Jesus offered the man the gift of faith and he confessed that Jesus was the Son of God and he worshipped him.
     The story of the blind man is not simply about physical blindness, but about spiritual blindness that hinders the development in one's relationship with God and others. People struggle with spiritual blindness on their journey towards the eternal home. While physical blindness can be cured by modern technology, spiritual blindness is still a problem today. John the Evangelist was more concerned with the spiritual blindness of the Pharisees. They were too stubborn to see anything good in what Jesus did.
     In our case, one of our blind spots is the temptation to make God irrelevant in our lives since we think science and technology can solve most of our physical problems. But that is where the illusion lies. Technology does not solve our spiritual hunger for the meaning of life and for a relationship with God. St. Augustine rightly puts it: "Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee." Another blind spot is putting an enormous amount of time and energy at accumulating wealth at the expense of our spiritual growth. When he was here on earth, Jesus depended on the generosity of his friends for his ministry. What we need to avoid is greed that can lead us to accumulate wealth for our own pleasure completely ignoring the needs of others. The third blind spot is dependence on gadgets which can prevent us from directly communicating with others. Nowadays, everyone has a cell phone or a tablet. How often do we see people of all ages holding and using these gadgets rather than converse with the members of the family or the persons they are with. They have lost the art of conversation or cease to be civil and to listen to one another. The satisfaction of their pleasure has made them blind to others.

Prayer Requests:
We pray ...
... for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.
... for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
... 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. 
  +================================================+

March 29, 2014
Saturday Third Week of Lent 

Hos 6: 1-6 / Ps 51: 3-4, 18-19, 20-21ab / Lk 18: 9-14

Reading: Hos 6: 1-6   
Come, let us return to Yahweh. He who shattered us to pieces, will heal us as well; he has struck us down, but he will bind up our wounds. Two days later he will bring us back to life; on the third day, he will raise us up, and we shall live in his presence. Let us strive to know Yahweh. His coming is as certain as the dawn; O Ephraim, what shall I do with you? O Judah, how shall I deal with you? This love of yours is like morning mist, like morning dew that quickly disappears. This is why I smote you through the prophets, and have slain you by the words of my mouth. his judgment will burst forth like the light; he will come to us as showers come, like spring rain that waters the earth. For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice; it is knowledge of God, not burnt offerings.   

Gospel: Lk 18: 9-14
Jesus told another parable to some persons fully convinced of their own righteousness, who looked down on others, Two men went up to the Temple to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and said: 'I thank you, God, that I am not like other people, grasping, crooked, adulterous, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give the tenth of all my income to the Temple.' In the meantime the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast saying: 'O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.' I tell you, when this man went down to his house, he had been set right with God, but not the other. For whoever makes himself out to be great will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be raised."

Reflection:
After reading this parable of the Pharisee and tax collector, we ask ourselves: what is the content of our heart's prayer?  The meek and humble tax collector acknowledges our Lord as the Almighty Being who offers forgiveness. He recognizes his faults and repents for them. The self-righteous Pharisee on the other hand believes that he has done nothing wrong and although he does thank the Lord, he becomes judgmental to the point of being proud in comparing himself with others. Humility is a difficult virtue to acquire. Most of us have a hard time exacting humility, especially in times when we become great and successful in overcoming things in our life. Pride destroys us and makes us weaker in due time. Rather than put our trust in our Lord, we put our trust in our abilities. Learning to be humble will be one step in having us get closer to God. One who has a humbled heart is called by our Lord to be with him.  

Prayer Requests:
We pray ...
... for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.
... for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
... for families who are in need of healing.
... for world peace and reconciliation.
... for personal intentions
     * Zeny Balatbat
     * Alberto B. Cabrera

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. 
  +================================================+