Daily Reflection

June 12, 2018 Tuesday

10TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Psalter: Week 2 / (Green)

Ps 4:2-3, 4-5, 7b-8
Lord, let your face shine on us.

1^st Reading: 1 K 17:7-16

After a while, the brook dried up because no rain had fallen in the land. Then Yahweh spoke to Elijah, “Go to Zarephath of the Sidonites and stay there. I have given word to a widow there, to give you food.” So Elijah went to Zarephath. On reaching the gate of the town, he saw a widow gathering sticks. He called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel that I may drink.”

As she was going to bring it, he called after her and said, “Bring me also a piece of bread.” But she answered, “As Yahweh your God lives, I have no bread left, but only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am just now gathering some sticks so that I may go in and prepare something for myself and my son to eat — and die.”

Elijah then said to her, “Do not be afraid. Go, and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me. Then make some for yourself and your son. For this is the word of Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of meal shall not be emptied nor shall the jug of oil fail, until the day when Yahweh sends rain to the earth.”

So she went and did as Elijah told her; and she had food for herself, Elijah and her son from that day on. The jar of flour was not emptied nor did the jug of oil fail, in accordance with what Yahweh had said through Elijah.

Gospel: Mt 5:13-16

You are the salt of the earth. But if salt has lost its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It has become useless. It can only be thrown away and people will trample on it.

You are the light of the world. A city built on a mountain cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and covers it; instead, it is put on a lamp stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, your light must shine before others, so that they may see the good you do, and praise your Father in heaven.

Reflections

Do not be afraid

Despite the severe famine, the widow of Zarephath offers Elijah the little flour she has left for her last meal with her son. Because of her generosity the Lord does not allow her jar to go empty until the famine has ended.

Where lies the miracle? If a miracle involves the suspension of natural laws, then in the mysterious replenishment of the flour. But as the miraculous can also refer to the intensification of the natural, her capacity to sacrifice herself for another can be deemed a miracle — the perfection of the heart to give at its utmost capacity.

Daily Reflection 2018

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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

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June 11, 2018 Monday

10TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
St. Barnabas, Apostle
Psalter: Proper / (Red)

Ps 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4, 5-6
The Lord has revealed to the nations
his saving power.

1^st Reading: Acts 11:21b-26; 13:1-3

The hand of the Lord was with them so that a great number believed and turned to the Lord.

News of this reached the ears of the Church in Jerusalem, so they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw the manifest signs of God’s favor, he rejoiced and urged them all to remain firmly faithful to the Lord; for he, himself, was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith. Thus large crowds came to know the Lord.

Then Barnabas went off to Tarsus, to look for Saul; and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year, they had meetings with the Church and instructed many people. It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.

There were at Antioch — in the Church which was there — prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon known as Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod, and Saul. On one occasion, while they were celebrating the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said to them, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul to do the work for which I have called them.” So, after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

Gospel: Mt 10:7-13

Go, and proclaim this message: The kingdom of heaven is near. Heal the sick, bring the dead back to life, cleanse the lepers, and drive out demons. Freely have you received, freely give. Do not carry any gold or silver or money in your purses. Do not take a traveling bag, or an extra shirt, or sandals, or a walking stick: workers deserve to be compensated.

When you come to a town or a village, look for a worthy person, and stay there until you leave.

When you enter the house, wish it peace. If the people are worthy people, your peace will rest on them; if they are not worthy people, your blessing will come back to you.

Reflections

Heal the sick,
bring the dead back to life, cleanse the lepers,
and drive out demons

How can Jesus call the poor and the persecuted blessed? Certainly God does not desire us to suffer. Neither does Jesus glorify or romanticize suffering.

Suffering is not a virtue. But paradoxically, suffering can evoke virtues. Who has not been moved by the faith and resiliency of a loved one battling a terminal illness? While God does not delight in the suffering on our loved one and, out of love, suffers the pain of one of his children, our Lord delights in the virtues that have been brought forth by suffering. Blessed are those who embrace suffering valiantly and virtuously.

Daily Reflection 2018

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

June 10, 2018 Sunday

10TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Psalter: Week 2 / (Green)

Ps 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
With the Lord there is mercy, and fullness of redemption.

1^st Reading: Gen 3:9-15

Yahweh God called the man saying to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree I ordered you not to eat?” The man answered, “The woman you put with me gave me fruit from the tree and I ate it.” God said to the woman, “What have you done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me and I ate.”

Yahweh God said to the serpent, “Since you have done that, be cursed among all the cattle and wild beasts! You will crawl on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life. I will make you enemies, you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring. He will crush your head and you will strike his heel.”

2^nd Reading: 2 Cor 4:13—5:1

We have received the same spirit of faith referred to in Scripture that says: I believed and so I spoke. We also believe, and so we speak.

We know that, when our earthly dwelling, or, rather, our tent, is destroyed, we may count on a building from God, a heavenly dwelling, not built by human hands, that lasts forever.

Gospel: Mk 3:20-35

They went home. The crowd began to gather again and they couldn’t even have a meal. Knowing what was happening, his relatives came to take charge of him. “He is out of his mind,” they said. Meanwhile, the teachers of the law, who had come from Jerusalem, said, “He is in the power of Beelzebul: the chief of the demons helps him to drive out demons.”

Jesus called them to him, and began teaching them by means of stories, or parables. “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a nation is divided by civil war, that nation cannot stand. If a family divides itself into groups, that family will not survive. In the same way, if Satan has risen against himself and is divided, he will not stand; he is finished. No one can break into the house of a strong man in order to plunder his goods, unless he first ties up the strong man. Then indeed, he can plunder his house.

“Truly, I say to you, every sin will be forgiven humankind, even insults to God, however numerous. But whoever slanders the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. He carries the guilt of his sin forever.”

This was their sin when they said, “He has an unclean spirit in him.”

Then his mother and his brothers came. As they stood outside, they sent someone to call him. The crowd sitting around Jesus told him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside asking for you.” He replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”

And looking around at those who sat there, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does the will of God is brother and sister and mother to me.”

Lectio Divina

Read: Following their sinful act, Adam and Eve discover the dynamics of shame: the sense of being less than. Paul reminds us of our heavenly dwelling prefect in every sense and lasting forever. Jesus declares kinship with all who do the Will of God.

Reflect: At the depth of our being, human beings generally feel a sense of lack, inferiority, and shame. Everyone else seems more than us and disorders of desire drive us to violently appropriate others or expel them. The sin of Adam and Eve was a desperate attempt to become like God. A pity, because that was exactly what God wanted to offer humanity – help us discover His own image and likeness within us and grow into such image by doing God’s Will and becoming brothers and sisters of Christ. It is a gift waiting to be received freely and gratefully; not to be grabbed in violent envy. We are neither less than or more than: we are simply the children of God.

Pray: Pray for the grace to discern and do God’s Will in your everyday context.

Act: Meditate on how it feels to be members of Christ’s family.

Daily Reflection 2018

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

June 9, 2018 Saturday

IMMACULATE HEART OF THE
BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
Psalter: Week 1 / (White)

Ps 71:8-9, 14-15ab, 16-17, 22
My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.

1^st Reading: 2 Tim 4:1-8

In the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by the hope I have of his coming, and his kingdom, I urge you to preach the word, in season and out of season, reproving, rebuking, or advising, always with patience, and providing instruction. For the time is coming, when people will no longer endure sound doctrine, but, following their passions, they will surround themselves with teachers to please their itching ears. 4 And they will abandon the truth to hear fables. So be prudent, do not mind your labor, give yourself to your work as an evangelist, fulfi ll your ministry.

As for me, I am already poured out as a libation, and the moment of my departure has come. I have fought the good fi ght, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, with which the Lord, the just judge, will reward me, on that day, and not only me, but all those who have longed for his glorious coming.

Gospel: Lk 2:41-51

Every year, the parents of Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover, as was customary. And when Jesus was twelve years old, he went up with them, according to the custom of this feast. After the festival was over, they returned, but the boy Jesus remained in Jerusalem; and his parents did not know it.

They assumed that he was in their group of travelers, and, after walking the whole day, they looked for him among their relatives and friends. As they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem, searching for him; and on the third day, they found him in the temple sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions. And all the people were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

His parents were very surprised when they saw him; and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I were very worried while searching for you.” Then he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand this answer.

Jesus went down with them, returning to Nazareth, and he continued to be obedient to them. As for his mother, she kept all these things in her heart.

Reflections

She kept all these things
in her heart

The Immaculate Heart of Mary is intertwined with her Immaculate Conception. Doctrinally, the Church proclaims that at the moment of her conception, she was spared from the stains of original sin. This implies that God preserved in her what was lost in us due to original sin — the state of sanctifying grace or original justice. For us who have lost sanctifying grace, we experience and battle concupiscence, the attraction to sin. For Mary, in whom sanctifying grace was preserved, was wholly oriented in mind, heart and will to God. Thus, we honor her and emulate her Immaculate Heart.

Daily Reflection 2018

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

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