DAILY- HOMILY

January 9, 2019 – WEDNESDAY

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1 Jn 4: 11 – 12, 14 – 16 / Mk 6:45-52

Feast of the Black Nazarene

    The Black Nazarene, an image of Christ carrying the cross, was brought to Manila in 1606 and has been housed at the Quiapo St. John the Baptist Church since 1787. The procession of the Black Nazarene is the largest annual religious procession in the country.

FROM THE 1ST READING:             1 Jn 4: 11 – 12, 14 – 16

    Dear friends, if such has been the love of God, we, too, must love one another. No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love spreads freely among us. . . .

    We ourselves have seen and declare that the Father sent his Son to save the world. Those who acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in them and they in God. We have known the love of God and have believed in it. God is love. The one who lives in love, lives in God and God in him.

REFLECTION

    "What drives you?" This is a question posed in a TV advertisement of a fuel company. The ad shows people from various walks of life giving their best efforts in what they are doing -- in sports, in one's profession, while driving a sports car or while just playing with one's children.

    The images shown, and the question posed strike us at our core: "What drives us?" The answer is simple: that one cannot totally commit himself to   a task, a profession, unless one is driven by something pure, compelling and convincing, by something truly as important as one's life itself.

   In today's reading from the First Letter of John, we are given the compelling answer to the question, "What drives us?" The real answer is "love." We do not have to study the many spiritual writers and practitioners who support John's reply. If we look back at our own life experiences, we notice that the moments and times we are so alive, bold and courageous and so fulfilled are when we are ignited and moved by love.

   One could think of the moment one proposed to his wife. Or accepted the proposal from one's future husband. One could think of the times we went out of our usual comfort zone to reach out to a friend, office-mate or even a stranger in great need. These are key moments in our human life and experience which can only be driven by love.

   For John, the disciple Jesus loved, these experiences driven by love make God really present in our lives; they are true encounters with God-with-us.

   Today, as we celebrate the Christmas season of God's gift of his Son to us, let us reflect and ask ourselves "What drives us?" Which parts of our lives are not ruled and driven by love? Pray to the Lord to touch those parts of our lives that he may rule there.

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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   |  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.  

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