DAILY- HOMILY

December 29, 2017 – Friday, Christmas Weekday 

St. Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr

White

1 Jn 2: 3- 11 / Lk 2: 22- 35

     St. Thomas Becket (1118 -1170), Archbishop of Canterbury, was martyred at the altar of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Benedict at his cathedral by agents of King Henry II.

FROM THE FIRST READING:          1 Jn 2: 4- 6

     If you say, "I know him," but do not fulfill his commands, you are a liar and the truth is not in you. But if you keep his word, God's love is made complete in you. This is how we know that you are in him: he who claims to live in him must live as he lived.

GOSPEL READING:           Lk 2: 22- 35

     When the day came for the purification according to the law of Moses, they brought the baby up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord: Every firstborn male shall be consecrated to God. And they offered a sacrifice as ordered in the law of the Lord: a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.

     There lived in Jerusalem at this time a very upright and devout man named Simeon: the Holy Spirit was in him. He looked forward to the time when the Lord would comfort Israel, and he had been assured by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before seeing the Messiah of the Lord. So he was led into the Temple by the Holy Spirit at the time the parents brought the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law.

     Simeon took the child in his arms and blessed God, saying, "Now, 0 Lord, you can dismiss your servant in peace, for you have fulfilled your word and my eyes have seen your salvation, which you display for all people to see. Here is the light you will reveal to the nations and the glory of your people Israel."

     His father and mother wondered at what was said about the child. Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, "See him; he will be for the rise or fall of the multitudes of Israel. He shall stand as a sign of contradiction, while a sword will pierce your own soul. Then the secret thoughts of many may be brought to light."

REFLECTION

     In the first reading John repeatedly says that to know Christ is to live his commands, "How can we know that we know him? If we fulfill his commands."

     In the Gospel reading, we see God fulfill his promise to the holy man Simeon that "he would not die before seeing the Messiah of the Lord." We may not be as privileged as Simeon in personally seeing the Messiah but we do live and move in his grace and his Spirit. May we live our lives in his peace.

WE PRAY FOR MTQ DAILY PRAYER INTENTIONS:

BIRTHDAY

     NATASHA KING

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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