DAILY- HOMILY

13 December 2016    

Tuesday, 3rd Week of Advent   

St. Lucy, Virgin and Martyr   

Red.          

Zep 3: 1 – 2, 9 – 13 / Mt 21: 28 – 32

St. Lucy (d 304) was martyred in Syracuse.  She is the patroness of those with afflictions of the eyes.

Gospel Reading: Mt 21: 28 - 32

Jesus went on to say, "What do you think of this? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said to him: 'Son, today go and work in my vineyard.'  And the son answered: 'I don't want to.' But later he thought better of it and went. Then the father went to the second and gave him the same command. This son replied: 'I will go, sir,' but he did not go.

"Which of the two did what the father wanted?" They answered, "The first." And Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you: the publicans and the prostitutes are ahead of you on the way to the kingdom of heaven. For John came to show you the way of goodness but you did not believe him, yet the publicans and the prostitutes did. You were witnesses of this, but you neither repented nor believed him."

Reflection 

Many of us are non-confrontational; we do not like to offend others.  In the interest of promoting harmony and good interpersonal relationships, we are willing to go through great lengths.  We would even compromise on our values, such as truthfulness, just so we don't offend others.  Many, if not all, of us would be guilty of this at one time or another.  

Jesus' parable in today's Gospel reading speaks of something like this – saying something to an authority figure and then doing the opposite.  Asked by his father to work in the vineyard, one son said "Yes," but he did no go to work as he had said.  The other son said "No," but changed his mind and worked in the vineyard. 

As the story goes, Jesus asks the leading question:  "Which of the two did what the father wanted?"  This leading question speaks volumes of what really matters.  In the end, what counts is what we did – not what we said we would do or what we intended to do.  When did we promised or agreed to do something and ended up reneging on the promise?  

Today's Gospel reading invites us to look deeper into ourselves and our tendency to omit doing tasks that optimize our Christian lives. To what extent are we open to our constant need for conversion?  How mindful are we of our moment-to-moment need of God's grace and our need to seek his help?  How ready are we to listen to him in our daily lives?  Do we hear him in the subtle voices of our neighbors? How often do we say "Yes," but act "No"? Why?

As we bring our reflections to prayer, how is God calling me to respond to him today?  And how will this impact on what I will actually do?  

WE PRAY FOR MTQ DAILY PRAYER DIARY INTENTIONS:

BIRTHDAY

     James Lim Yu

     Harold S. Macasaquit

     Christian Emmanuel Ching

     Jessica Ho Gotamco

IN MEMORIAM (+)

     James Yao E. Heong

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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