DAILY- HOMILY

December 4, 2014

Thursday, First Week of Advent

[Memorial, St. John of Damascus]

Is 26: 1-6 / Ps 118: 1 and 8-9, 19-21, 25-27a / Mt 7: 21, 24-27 

Reading: Is 26: 1-6

On that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city, he himself has set up walls and fortifications to protect us. Open the gates! Let the righteous nation enter, she who is firm in faithfulness. You keep in perfect peace the one of steadfast mind, the one who trusts in you. Trust in Yahweh forever, for Yahweh is an everlasting Rock. He brought down those who dwell on high, he laid low the lofty city, he razed it to the ground, leveled it to the dust, Now it is trampled the poor and the lowly tread upon it.      

Gospel: Mt 7: 21, 24-27

     Not everyone who says to me: Lord! Lord! will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my heavenly Father. "So, then, anyone who hears these words of mine and acts accordingly are like a wise man, who built his house on rock. The rain poured, the rivers flooded, and the wind blew and struck that house, but it did not collapse because it was built on rock. But anyone who hears these words of mine and does not act accordingly, is like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain poured, the rivers flooded, and the wind blew and struck that house; it collapsed, and what a terrible fall that was!"

Reflection:

     "So, then, anyone who hears these words of mine and acts accordingly are like a wise men, who built his house on rock."

     Indeed, we may hear God's word and not recognize Him speaking to us if we do not have a personal relationship with Him. And it is in prayer and our experiences with the Lord that we build a loving relationship with Him which enables us to act on His word.  Prayer without action will not strengthen the foundation of our faith and will be like a house built on sand.  The true test of discipleship is executing what we hear the Lord telling us to do. This means that what touches our mind is imprinted in our hearts and this moves us to action as we believe that we are doing God's will. Each good that we do, each call of God that we answer, transforms us and, possibly the recipient of our good deed, to a life of holiness and Godliness. Continuously listening and doing God's will become a habit and will strengthen our faith foundation. No external circumstance, no trial will be strong enough to collapse our "rock" of faith. Our faith foundation is built on the person of Jesus. The greatest joy we should aspire for us to see God face to face at the end of time. Wouldn't we want to hear the Lord tell us, "Well done, good and faithful servant, because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will place thee over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." (Matthew 25:21)?

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!

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