27TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Blessed Virgin Mary
Psalter: Week 3 / (Green/White)
Ps 105:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
The Lord remembers his covenant forever.
1st Reading: Gal 3:22-29
But the Scriptures have declared, that we are all prisoners of sin. So, the only way to receive God’s promise is to believe in Jesus Christ.
Before the time of faith had come, the law confined us, and kept us in custody, until the time in which faith would show up. The law, then, was serving as a slave, to look after us until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. With the coming of faith, we are no longer submitted to this guidance.
Now, in Christ Jesus, all of you are sons and daughters of God, through faith. All of you, who were given to Christ through Baptism, have put on Christ. Here, there is no longer any difference between Jew or Greek, or between slave or freed, or between man and woman: but all of you are one, in Christ Jesus. And because you belong to Christ, you are of Abraham’s race and you are to inherit God’s promise.
Gospel: Lk 11:27-28
As Jesus was speaking, a woman spoke from the crowd and said to him, “Blessed is the one who gave you birth and nursed you!” Jesus replied, “Truly blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it as well.”
Reflections
Are you a blessing to others? Have you shared your blessings with others? Have you felt God‘s blessings in your life? When someone from the crowd wished to compliment Jesus by praising his mother, Jesus did not deny the truth of the blessing she pronounced. Mary is truly blessed. Her canticle: All generations will call me blessed (Luke 1:48) is an affirmation of her status. Her source of all true blessedness or happiness is her yes to God‘s call of covenant or new relationship. Mary humbly submitted herself to a covenant with God: I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word (Luke 1:38). Mary heard the word spoken to her by the angel and she believed it. On another occasion, Jesus pointed out that our true mother and brothers and sisters are those who hear the word of God and do it (Luke 8:21). They are truly blessed because they know their God personally and they find joy in hearing and doing his will. Jesus changes the order of relationships and shows that true kinship is not just a matter of blood relations. The new covenant with God transforms all our relationships and requires a reversal of values. Do you seek God and his word? Or do you seek temporal things in your search for material possessions? Who possesses your heart and mind at the end of the day? The advertising tag line “Satisfaction guaranteed“ can entice us to buy goods that we believe can satisfy us and make us happy forever. We end up just being restless because the heart knows no satisfaction when it comes to temporal values. The heart seeks the eternal and not the temporal.
Daily Reflection 2018
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Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL
With permission from the EPISCOPAL COMMISION ON LITURGY of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
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