DAILY- HOMILY

December 2, 2018 - 1st SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Cycle C. Violet.

Jer 33: 14-16 / 1 Thes 3: 12- 4: 2 / Lk 21: 26-28, 34-36

1ST READING:    Jer 33: 14- 16

The days are coming when I shall fulfill the promise that I made in favor of Israel and Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause to sprout the shoot of righteousness from David's line; he will practice justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will experience salvation and Jerusalem will live in safety. He will be called Yahweh - Our Righteousness.

FROM THE 2ND READING:            1 Thes 3: 12- 13

May God our Father and Jesus our Lord prepare the way for us to visit you. May the Lord increase more and more your love for each other and for all people, as he increases our love for you. May he strengthen you interiorly to be holy and blameless before God, our Father, on the day that Jesus, our Lord, will come will all his saints.

GOSPEL READING:           Lk 21: 26- 28, 34- 36

Jesus said to his disciples, "People will faint with fear at the mere thought of what is to come upon the world, for the forces of the universe will be shaken. And at this time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now, when you see the first events, stand erect and lift up your heads, for your deliverance is drawing near....

"Be on your guard; let not your hearts be weighed down with a life of pleasure, drunkenness and worldly cares, lest that day catch you suddenly as a trap. For it will come upon all the inhabitants of the whole earth. But watch at all times and pray, that you may be able to escape all that is bound to happen and to stand before the Son of Man."

REFLECTION

The season of Advent tells us to prepare for the coming of God's salvation. Advent is a period of prayerful waiting for the gift of hope and salvation that comes to us in the person of Jesus when the Son of God was born a child in Bethlehem. Advent is also a time of prayerful waiting for the Lord's coming in glory at the end of time.

We experience many forms of waiting in our daily lives: we wait for meals to be served, for transportation to come, for people to come for work or meetings or social gatherings, for work to end on time.. We wait for key moments in our lives: for a child to be born, for schooling to end, for plans to bear fruit, for broken relationships to heal. Waiting is an inevitable part of human experience

At the earlier part of Advent our Mass readings are more about the coming of the Lord at the end of time, as his second coming as King and Judge of the universe. Our readings today present two aspects in waiting: of fear or apprehension and of joy.

We fear for what may come, for what we do not know or control. Students fear about exams they may not be fully ready for, employees fear reports to their bosses, the sick fear as they wait for their laboratory results. This type of fear is natural and real: it can paralyze and cloud our capacity to see things clearly.

We find joy in things that we love: joy at airports as friends and family arrive, joy of the expectant father at his first child, joy as a couple pronounce their marriage vows. This type of joy energizes and propels us to be more grateful and more generous

The first reading today reminds us of God's special relationship with Israel, sealed with a covenant at the desert, and his great saving deeds for his beloved people.

The second reading and the Gospel reading advise us to be always ready, living our lives in accordance with the Lord's commands, so that we would always be ready to meet him when he comes.

We wait not in fear but in hope that God who loves us will fulfill his promises to save us.

FINALLY, WE PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER, FOR THOSE WHO HAVE ASKED OUR PRAYERS AND FOR THOSE WHO NEED OUR PRAYERS THE MOST. 

BIRTHDAY 

     Robert Ong

     Isis T. So

     Didi C. Ventura

IN MEMORIAM (+) 

     Dolores Tan

     Robert N. Tang

Have a good day!

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