Daily Reflection | Gospel Reading | RVA

26TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Blessed Virgin Mary / St. Bruno, priest
Bl. Marie-Rose Durocher, virgin
Psalter: Week 2 / (Green/White)

Ps 119:66, 71, 75, 91, 125, 130
Lord, let your face shine on me.

1^st Reading: Job 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17

This was the answer Job gave to Yahweh: I know that you are all powerful; no plan of yours can be thwarted. I spoke of things I did not understand, too wonderful for me to know.

My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore, I retract all I have said, and in dust and ashes I repent.

Yahweh blessed Job’s latter days much more than his earlier ones. He came to own fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-donkeys. He was also blessed with seven sons and three daughters. The first daughter he named Dove, the second Cinnamon, and the third Bottle of Perfume. Nowhere in the land was there found any woman who could compare in beauty with Job’s daughters. Their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers. Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. He died old and full of years.

Gospel: Lk 10:17-24

 The seventy-two disciples returned full of joy. They said, “Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we called on your name.” Then Jesus replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. You see, I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the Enemy, so that nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, don’t rejoice because the evil spirits submit to you; rejoice, rather, that your names are written in heaven.”

At that time, Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and made them known to little ones. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. I have been given all things by my Father, so that no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said to them privately, “Fortunate are you to see what you see, for I tell you, that many prophets and kings would have liked to see what you see, but did not see it; and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”

Reflections

The 72 newly commissioned disciples return from their first mission trip rejoicing over the outcome. Everything Jesus said came true. They are pleased and so is Jesus. Jesus is overjoyed at the results, as are the disciples. But Jesus wants to take their rejoicing to a new level. Understand, this is the only place in all the Gospels that the Bible says Jesus rejoices. The gospel of Luke continues to show us that in the decreed plan of God there is a divine reversal. It‘s God‘s gracious will to give salvation to the lowly and humble not those who already think they are good with God based on their own righteousness, status or wisdom. Jesus‘ rejoicing is two-fold. First, he rejoices because the Father has concealed these things from some and revealed these things to others. We must be very careful here. We must never act as if our righteous judgments or our best efforts are better than God‘s. Second, Jesus rejoices that his disciples are fortunate to have seen and experienced God‘s saving and liberating power.

Daily Reflection 2018

Bible Diary ® is a product of Claretian Publications, a division of Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc. (CCFI) which is a pastoral endeavor of the Claretian Missionaries in the Philippines that brings the Word of God to people from all walks of life. CCFI aims to promote integral evangelization and renewed spirituality that is geared towards empowerment and total liberation in response to the needs and challenges of the Church today.

CCFI is a member of Claret Publishing Group, a consortium of the publishing houses of the Claretian Missionaries all over the world: Bangalore, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Chennai, Colombo, Dar es Salaam, Lagos, Madrid, Macao, Manila, Owerry, São Paolo, Varsaw , Yaoundé.

Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57^th 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

 

Bible Diary ® 2018
Copyright © 2O17 
Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc.
U.P. P.O. Box 4, Diliman,
1101 Quezon City, Philippines
Tel.: (63-2) 921-3984
Fax: (6352) 921-7429
Email: ccfi@claretianpublicationscom
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26TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Psalter: Week 2 / (Green)

Ps 139:1-3, 7-8, 9-10, 13-14ab
Guide me, Lord,
along the everlasting way.

1st Reading: Job 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5
Then Yahweh answered Job out of the storm: Have you ever commanded the morning, or shown the dawn its place, that it might grasp the earth by its edges and shake the wicked out of it, when it takes a clay color and changes its tint like a garment; when the wicked are denied their own light, and their proud arm is shattered?
Have you journeyed to where the sea begins or walked in its deepest recesses?
Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of Shadow?
Have you an idea of the breadth of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.
Where is the way to the home of light, and where does darkness dwell?
Can you take them to their own regions, and set them on their homeward paths?
You know, for you were born before them, and great is the number of your years!
Job said: How can I reply, unworthy as I am! All I can do is put my hand over my mouth. I have spoken once, now I will not answer; oh, yes, twice, but I will do no further.

Gospel: Lk 10:13-16

 Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! So many miracles have been worked in you! If the same miracles had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would already be sitting in ashes and wearing the sackcloth of repentance. Surely for Tyre and Sidon it will be better on the Day of Judgment than for you. And what of you, city of Capernaum? Will you be lifted up to heaven? You will be thrown down to the place of the dead.

Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me; and he who rejects me, rejects the one who sent me.”

Reflections

Whoever listens to you listens to me

Addressing his disciples he says, “He that hears you, hears me and he that despises you despises me“ and the Father who sent him. In other words, to listen to the messengers of Jesus is equivalent to listening to him personally; to reject those messengers is to reject Jesus and to reject God. And, in our own times, perhaps we should emphasize that those “messengers“ are not just priests and religious. They include all those who sincerely proclaim the Gospel by their words and their lives. Each of us needs to hear those warnings of Jesus addressed to ourselves. How well have we really responded to the call of Jesus in the Gospel? How open are we to hear that message coming to us from different kinds of people in our community? How committed are we to accepting, living and sharing that Gospel with others? There is never any room for complacency or for indifference in our Christian life. We are all called to conversion and above all to share God‘s mercy to others.

Daily Reflection 2018

Bible Diary ® is a product of Claretian Publications, a division of Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc. (CCFI) which is a pastoral endeavor of the Claretian Missionaries in the Philippines that brings the Word of God to people from all walks of life. CCFI aims to promote integral evangelization and renewed spirituality that is geared towards empowerment and total liberation in response to the needs and challenges of the Church today.

CCFI is a member of Claret Publishing Group, a consortium of the publishing houses of the Claretian Missionaries all over the world: Bangalore, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Chennai, Colombo, Dar es Salaam, Lagos, Madrid, Macao, Manila, Owerry, São Paolo, Varsaw , Yaoundé.

Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57^th 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

 

Bible Diary ® 2018
Copyright © 2O17 
Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc.
U.P. P.O. Box 4, Diliman,
1101 Quezon City, Philippines
Tel.: (63-2) 921-3984
Fax: (6352) 921-7429
Email: ccfi@claretianpublicationscom
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Web: www.claretianph.com

26TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
St. Francis of Assisi
Psalter: Week 2 / (White)

Ps 27:7-8a, 8b-9abc, 13-14
I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.

1st Reading: Job 19:21-27
Have pity my friends, have pity, for God’s hand has struck me!
Why do you hound me as God does?
Will you never have enough of my flesh?
Oh, that my words were written, or recorded on bronze with an iron tool, a chisel or engraved forever on rock!
For I know that my Redeemer lives, and he, the last, will take his stand on earth.
I will be there behind my skin, and in my flesh I shall see God.
With my own eyes I shall see him — I and not another. How my heart yearns!

Gospel: Lk 10:1-12

 After this, the Lord appointed seventy-two other disciples, and sent them, two by two, ahead of him, to every town and place, where he himself was to go. And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. So you must ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers to his harvest. Courage! I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Set off without purse or bag or sandals; and do not stop at the homes of those you know.

Whatever house you enter, first bless them, saying, ‘Peace to this house!’ If a friend of peace lives there, the peace shall rest upon that person. But if not, the blessing will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking at their table, for the worker deserves to be paid. Do not move from house to house.

When they welcome you to any town, eat what they offer you. Heal the sick who are there, and say to them: ‘The kingdom of God has drawn near to you.’

But in any town where you are not welcome, go to the marketplace and proclaim: ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off and leave with you. But know for a certainty that the kingdom of God has drawn near to you.’ I tell you, that on the Day of Judgment it will be better for Sodom than for this town.

Reflections

Jesus sends them “ahead of him … to every town and place where he himself intended to go.“ It is also a preview of the ministry Jesus gives us today. We go “ahead of him,“ bringing his message where we go. Jesus warned the seventy to expect resistance and rejection. Some prefer to live their own lives to living meaningfully in the service of others. If not persecution and martyrdom, we might meet the indifference of those who are caught by increasingly materialistic and consumeristic society. Jesus‘ advice on the mission was to “travel light.“ In times, it would mean not to let stuff get in the way or conflict with your ministry of the gospel. God‘s blessings come in unexpected ways and many times more than our financial or material worries. St. Teresa of Avila‘s well-known saying reminds us of what is truly essential in following Jesus:

Christ has no body on earth but yours; no hands but yours; no feet but yours.

Yours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ looks out to the world.

Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good.

Yours are the hands with which he is to bless others now.

Daily Reflection 2018

Bible Diary ® is a product of Claretian Publications, a division of Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc. (CCFI) which is a pastoral endeavor of the Claretian Missionaries in the Philippines that brings the Word of God to people from all walks of life. CCFI aims to promote integral evangelization and renewed spirituality that is geared towards empowerment and total liberation in response to the needs and challenges of the Church today.

CCFI is a member of Claret Publishing Group, a consortium of the publishing houses of the Claretian Missionaries all over the world: Bangalore, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Chennai, Colombo, Dar es Salaam, Lagos, Madrid, Macao, Manila, Owerry, São Paolo, Varsaw , Yaoundé.

Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57^th 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

 

Bible Diary ® 2018
Copyright © 2O17 
Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc.
U.P. P.O. Box 4, Diliman,
1101 Quezon City, Philippines
Tel.: (63-2) 921-3984
Fax: (6352) 921-7429
Email: ccfi@claretianpublicationscom
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Web: www.claretianph.com

26TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Psalter: Week 2 / (Green)

Ps 88:10bc-11, 12-13, 14-15
Let my prayer come before you, Lord.

1st Reading: Job 9:1-12, 14-16
Then Job answered: Very well I know that it is so.
But how can a mortal be just before God? If one were to contend with him, not once in a thousand times would he answer.
His power is vast, his wisdom profound.
Who has resisted him and come out unharmed?
He moves mountains before they are aware; he overturns them in his rage.
He makes the earth tremble and its pillars quake.
He commands the sun, and it does not shine; he seals off the light of the stars.
He alone stretches out the skies and treads on the waves of the seas.
He made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and every constellation.
His wonders are past all reckoning, his miracles beyond all counting.
He passes by, but I do not see him; he moves on, but I do not notice him.
If he snatches away, who can stop him? Who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
How then can I answer him and find words to argue with him?
If he does not answer when I am right, shall I plead with my judge for mercy?
Even if I appealed and he answered, I do not believe that he would have heard.

Gospel: Lk 9:57-62

 As they went on their way, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

To another, Jesus said, “Follow me!” But he answered, “Let me go back now, for, first, I want to bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their dead; as for you, leave them, and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

Another said to him, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say goodbye to my family.” And Jesus said to him, “Whoever has put his hand to the plow, and looks back, is not fit for the kingdom of God.”

Reflections

What does the story of a plowman have to do with the journey with God? A plowman who looked back while plowing caused his furrow to be crooked. He had to look straight ahead in order to keep the plow from going off course. Likewise, if we look back, we hang on to former securities and comfort zones preventing us from what God has for us. Looking back is holding on to past ways and questionable behavior. The gospel does not record the response from these three would-be disciples. We are only left with the question which Jesus intends for us as well. Are you ready to take the path Jesus offers? His infinite mercy is sufficient and his love is strong. There is nothing greater we can do with our lives than to place them at the service of the Creator of the universe. We cannot overcome God in generosity and mercy. Ours is many times conditional and not gratuitous. Jesus promises that those who are willing to part with what is most dear to them for his sake “will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life“ (Matthew 19:29). Is there anything holding you back from pursuing the Lord and his will for your life?

Daily Reflection 2018

Bible Diary ® is a product of Claretian Publications, a division of Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc. (CCFI) which is a pastoral endeavor of the Claretian Missionaries in the Philippines that brings the Word of God to people from all walks of life. CCFI aims to promote integral evangelization and renewed spirituality that is geared towards empowerment and total liberation in response to the needs and challenges of the Church today.

CCFI is a member of Claret Publishing Group, a consortium of the publishing houses of the Claretian Missionaries all over the world: Bangalore, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Chennai, Colombo, Dar es Salaam, Lagos, Madrid, Macao, Manila, Owerry, São Paolo, Varsaw , Yaoundé.

Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57^th 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

 

Bible Diary ® 2018
Copyright © 2O17 
Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc.
U.P. P.O. Box 4, Diliman,
1101 Quezon City, Philippines
Tel.: (63-2) 921-3984
Fax: (6352) 921-7429
Email: ccfi@claretianpublicationscom
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Web: www.claretianph.com