DAILY- HOMILY

October 9, 2015 FRIDAY, 27th Week in Ordinary Time

Sts. Denis, Bishop, and Companions, Martyrs; 

St. John Leonardi, Priest                    

Green     

Jl 1:13-15; 2:1-2 / Lk 11:15-26

Reading: Jl 1:13-15; 2:1-2

     Gird yourselves, O priests, and weep; mourn, O ministers of the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God! For the house of your God is deprived of grain and drink offering.

     Proclaim a fast, call an assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land into the house of your God, and cry out to Yahweh, "What a dreadful day – the day of Yahweh that draws near and comes as ruin from the Almighty!"

     Blow the trumpet in Zion, sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all dwellers in the land tremble, for the day of Yahweh is coming.

  Yes, the day is fast approaching – a day of gloom and darkness, a day of clouds and blackness. A vast and mighty army comes, like dawn spreading over the mountain, such as has never occurred before nor will happen again in the future.

Gospel: Lk 11:15-26 

     Yet some of them said, "He drives out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the chief of the demons."  So others wanted to put him to the test by asking him for a heavenly sign. But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every nation divided by civil war is on the road to ruin, and will fall. If Satan also is divided, his empire is coming to an end. How can you say that I drive out demons by calling upon Beelzebul? If I drive them out by Beelzebul, by whom do your fellow members drive out demons? They will be your judge, then. But suppose I drive out demons by the finger of God; would not this mean that the kingdom of God has come upon you? As long as the strong and armed man guards his house, his goods are safe. But when a stronger one attacks and overcomes him, the challenger takes away all the weapons he relied on and disposes of his spoils. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me, scatters. When the evil spirit goes out of a person, it wanders through dry lands looking for a resting place. And finding none, it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' When it comes, it finds the house swept and everything in order. Then it goes to fetch seven other spirits even worse than itself. They move in and settle there, so that the last state of that person is worse than the first."

Reflection:

     St. Denis became the first bishop of Paris in the 3rd century. He suffered martyrdom near that city with two members of his clergy. In one of his writings he said that everyone who obeys the commandments is a martyr because he is witnessing to his faith by his deeds. He also said that a person who strives to maintain purity of mind and body is a martyr. One who helps the widow and the orphan is also a martyr as well as those who love the poor. In saying this, St. Denis makes simple Christian acts as something which God will obviously smile upon. So we are challenged to live our Christianity every day in thoughts, words and deeds.

     The Gospel reminds us that the devil is real and that we must be on guard against him. Our Christian life is a daily combat on whether to do the right thing or not. The devil often tempts us to take the easy but wrong path. But with prayer and petition for God's guidance we are called to take the narrow road which will eventually lead us to life. As Christians we are invited to pray a lot and read the scriptures to help us understand God's thoughts, because only by doing so can we start to do God's will in our everyday life.

WE PRAY FOR MTQ DAILY PRAYER DIARY INTENTIONS:

IN MEMORIAM (+)

     ARCH. THOMAS S. DIOKNO

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

   |  distributed free and for personal use only.  

  +================================================+