DAILY- HOMILY

02 January 2016

Sts. Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen,

Bishops and Doctors of the Church

Memorial.      White.     1 Jn 2: 22 – 28.    Jn 1: 19 – 28

Gospel Reading:     Jn 1: 19 – 28

This was the testimony of John, when the Jews priests and Levites to ask him, "Who are you?" John recognized the truth and did not deny it.  He said, "I am not the Messiah."  And they asked him, "Then who are you? Elijah?"  He answered, "I am not." They said, "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No."  Then they said to him, "Tell us who you are, so that we can give some answer to those who sent us. How do you see yourself?" And John said, quoting the prophet  Isaiah, "I am  the  voice crying out in the wilderness: Make  straight the way of the Lord."

Those who had been sent were Pharisees, so they put a further  question to John:  "Then why are you baptizing if you are not the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?" John answered, "I baptize you with water, but among you stands one whom you do not know; although he  comes after me,  I am not worthy to untie  the strap of his sandal." 

This happened in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Reflection

Born in Caesarea, Cappadocia (Turkey) in 329, St. Basil  followed the monastic way of life. He vigorously fought the Asian heresy. A powerful preacher, he declared: "We possess nothing and we can be robbed of nothing.  Exile will be impossible, since everywhere on God's earth, I am at home. Torments cannot afflict me, for I have no body. And death is welcome, for it will bring me more quickly to God. To a great extent I am already dead; for a long time I have been hastening to the grave."  Basil became Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia and died in 379 at the early age of 45. 

Born in the same year (329), St. Gregory of Nazianzen was a friend of Basil, and also followed the monastic way of life for many years.  He became Patriarch  of Constantinople and was a great theologian, defending the Catholic faith against the Asian heresy.  He died in 389.

These two saints, bishops, outstanding theologians and doctors of the Church, prepare the way for the coming of the Lord in our hearts.  They recognized his coming and even today exhort us to make our paths straight, to believe in the Good News, that the Lord comes really to rescue us, to redeem us from our poverty, our frustrations and our situations of death.  

WE PRAY FOR MTQ DAILY PRAYER DIARY INTENTIONS:

BIRTHDAY

     Gael Camiña

     Connie Calimon

     Veronica Nañagas

WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

     Dennis & Cornelia Tan Ang

     Mandy & Maribel Guerrero

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.  

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