DAILY- HOMILY

December 9, 2015 WEDNESDAY, 2ND Week of Advent

St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin

Memorial, White

Is 40:25  – 31 / Mt 11:28  – 30

[Our Lady appeared several times to St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (1474 – 1548), a simple Mexican farmer, and gave him a miraculous image of herself on his tilma, preserved until today. The first indigenous American canonized saint; he was beatified on 06 May 1990 and canonized on 31 July 2002 by St. John Paul II in the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City.]

Reading: Is 40:25 - 31

     To whom, then, will you liken me or make me equal? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes and see: who has created all this? He has ordered them as a starry host and called them each by name. So mighty is his power, so great his strength, that not one of them is missing.

     How can you say, O Jacob, how can you complain, O Israel, that your destiny is hidden from me, that your rights are ignored by Yahweh? Have you not known, have you not heard that Yahweh is an everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth? He does not grow tired or weary, his knowledge is without limit.

     He gives strength to the enfeebled, he gives vigor to the wearied. Youth may grow tired and faint, young men will stumble and fall, but those who hope in Yahweh will renew their strength. They will soar as with eagle's wings; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and never tire.

Gospel: Mt 11:28 - 30

     Jesus said to his disciples, "Come to me, all you who work hard and who carry heavy burdens and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble of heart; and you will find rest. For my yoke is good and my burden is light."

Reflection:

     In the Gospel reading Jesus invites us to go to him to refresh ourselves from fatigue and to ask for his help to lighten and to enable us to carry our life burdens and concerns.

     Jesus invites us to learn from him, "Learn from me for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest." He does not promise to carry our burdens. He invites is to learn from him how to carry our life burdens.   

     How did Jesus manage problems, difficulties and problems in his life? His followers were slow in learning from him, his own towns-folk did not receive him and his teaching well, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law saw him as a threat, hated him and eventually plotted to kill him.

     So often we see Jesus going off by himself at night to pray to his heavenly Father. On the night before he died we see him in prayer and agony in the garden, "Father, if it is your will, remove this cup from me; still not my will but yours be done." He surrendered all to the Father's will.

     We hesitate to be humble and to trust in God rather than in our own strength. Our difficulties and trials make us approach God for his help and support and bring us closer to him, in the way we see Jesus in his trials and challenges on earth. With God's grace and help, everything is possible for us.

WE PRAY FOR MTQ DAILY PRAYER DIARY INTENTIONS:

WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

     DR. MOISES AND SUSAN SONCUYA

     JAY & CHERRY JAVELLANA

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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