Daily Reflection | Gospel Reading | RVA

daily gospel gospel reading bible reflection

THE WORD
FIRST READING:
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Upon those who lived in a land of gloom a light has shone.
You have brought them abundant joy and great rejoicing;
They rejoice before you as people rejoice at harvest, as they exult when dividing the spoils.
For the yoke that burdened them, the pole on their shoulder,
The rod of their taskmaster, you have smashed, as on the day of Midian.
For every boot that tramped in battle, every cloak rolled in blood, will be burned as fuel for fire.
For a child is born to us, a son is given to us; upon his shoulder dominion rests.
They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace. His dominion is vast and forever peaceful,
Upon David's throne, and over his kingdom, which he confirms and sustains By judgment and justice, both now and forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this!

SECOND READING: Eph 1,3-6.15-18
Brothers and sisters: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved.
Therefore, I, too, hearing of your faith in the Lord Jesus and of your love for all the holy ones, do not cease giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him. May the eyes of [your] hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones.

GOSPEL: Mt 18,1-5.10
At that time the disciples approached Jesus and said, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, "Amen' I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom Of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.  See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father."

IN OTHER WORDS

The child that Matthew brings to our attention in the gospel could be any child. The child of Isaiah in the First Reading is now some 30 years old or so, Jesus of Nazareth and he is now the Great Teacher, the center of our attention. He picks up a particular child, putting him in the midst of his disciples as he replies to the disciples' question: "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven...
So the answer to the query is: the humble one, the humblest one, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. For one to enter the kingdom one must become like a little child. And for one to be the greatest in the kingdom, one must be the humblest.
Who would not want to win heaven? The disciples of Jesus themselves did not only have the ambition to get there but even to be great there. In other words, Jesus' admonition is as clear as it is simple: Be childlike, be lowly, be little, be simple, be humble!
Therese of the Child Jesus did very wisely when she took this particular word of Jesus to be the very kernel of her spirituality, her "Little Way"—"the way of spiritual childhood, the way of trust and self-surrender to God." She was a little child trusting the heavenly Father fully— imagining herself in the arms of Him, safe and secure, feeling infinitely loved, with nothing to fear or to be anxious about. Not even about her sins she trusted in the all-forgiving Father.
"Unless we become little, we cannot please God," according to St. Arnold Janssen(1837-1909), the father and founder of the Arnoldus family: SVD, SSpS & SSpSAP (Pink Sisters). Today, 15 January, is his feast day. But celebrating it has to give way to the much bigger feastday celebration of the Little Child, the Santo Nino.
As a Little Child —that's how the Savior of the world, the Son of God himself, started his journey of saving humankind. And he kept to being little all the days of his life on earth, such that he could throw his great challenge at normally proud, arrogant earthlings: "Learn of me for I am gentle and humble of heart." Finally, like a helpless, little child forsaken by his Father, he could tell his Father just before he breathed his last on the cross: "Mission accomplished. Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." And was the Father pleased, indeed. . . ! (cf, Phil.2,6-11) Miserable earthlings that we are, when, oh when, do we learn to be Christ-like, at last?

  • Fr. Dong Alpuerto, SVD (USC-Talamban, Cebu City)


The Word in other words 2017

An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.

 

THE WORD

Heb 4,12-16 / Mk 2,13-17

Once again [Jesus] went out along the sea. All the crowd came to him and he taught them. As he passed by, he saw Levi, son of Alphaeus, sitting at the customs post. He said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed him.

While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners sat with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many who followed him. Some scribes who were Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors and said to his disciples, "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?" Jesus heard this and said to them (that), "Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners."

 

IN OTHER WORDS

There is a saying that goes like this: "Tell me who your friends are, and I will tell you who you are." It sounds judgmental but this seems to be the way of the world. Parents constantly remind their children: Choose your friends carefully!  Don 't hang out with people who are bad influence. And indeed, we do choose our friends carefully. We do choose the kinds of people we hang out with.

However, Jesus in today's gospel shows us that he really did not have time for what other people would say in terms of the company he kept. He was not afraid to be seen with sinners and tax collectors for these were the very people he was looking for, the very people he was sent to. At the end of the day, the only WORD that really mattered for Jesus was the WORD of his FATHER. It was for this reason that he came into the world — to fulfill the mission of his Father, to call the sinners and those who are in need of God's love and mercy.

Let us pray that as we begin this New Year, we may have the courage to follow Jesus' example in the gospel today. May we find time or make time to be with people who need us rather than hang out with people we need. At the end of the day, let us put more weight on what the Father will say to us rather than what other people will say about us.

  • Fr. Carlos Macatangga, SVD (Toronto, Canada)

The Word in other words 2017

An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.

 

THE WORD

Heb 4,1-5.11 / Mk 2,1-12

Then Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it became known that he was at home. Many gathered together so that there was no longer room for them, not even around the door, and he preached the word to them. They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Child, your sins are forgiven." Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves, "Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?" Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so he said, "Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise, pick up your mat and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth"— he said to the paralytic, "I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home." He rose, picked up his mat at once, and went away in the sight of everyone. They were all astounded and glorified God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this."

 

IN OTHER WORDS

Our gospel today talks about how Jesus' healing of the paralytic polarized the crowd. Some charged Jesus with blasphemy; others got amazed and glorified God.  We can learn wonderful lessons from the story. First is the value of having friends with faith. The paralytic was blest with friends whose faith Jesus saw. Without them, he could have remained in the margins. A few years ago, I met a woman who suffered so much hell in life, but having received help from friends, she eventually left her life as a prostitute. After renewing her life, she went as far as Brazil and Africa to educate people about human trafficking and tell her story of having been blest by God.

God provides us with friends in the Church. Do we also appreciate the faith of our friends? When our brother or sister in the community is in need, can they also rely on us?

Second is the value of having privileges. The healing was done in Capernaum. Jesus did many miracles there: he healed the centurion's servant (Mt. 8:5-13), he healed Peter's mother-in-law (Mt. 8:14-15), he cast out spirits from the possessed person (Mt. 8: 16) and he healed the nobleman's son (Jn. 4:46-54). However, many people still rejected him.

Have we wasted our privileges? We live in a country where God's word is freely accessible. Have we made use of the many opportunities to grow and serve? Charles Cardinal Maung Bo, the Papal Legate during the 51st International Eucharistic Congress in Cebu, amt-med the Filipino faith. He said that in some parts of the world' Catholicism means "Filipino presence."

May we continue to keep and share our faith wherever we go.

  • Fr. Felmar Castrodes Fiel, SVD (Verbum, UPLB, Laguna)

The Word in other words 2017

An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.

 

THE WORD

Heb 3,7-14 / Mk 1,40-45

The leper came to [Jesus] (and kneeling down) begged him and said, "If you wish, you can make me clean." Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, "I do will it. Be made clean." The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once. Then he said to him, "See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them." The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report abroad so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere

IN OTHER WORDS

The man afflicted with leprosy can be called a dead man walking. He is already dead and yet alive. This was the worst scenario a man could be in Jesus' time. But worse than the physical affiction was the psycho-emotional indignation that one had to bear. He was not only driven away by his own family, but even isolated away from the community. The worst part of this condition was that a man inflicted with leprosy was a man condemned spiritually because his condition was a testament about a person who had led an immoral life. So when Jesus healed the man with leprosy, he was totally reconciled not only to his own family and society but even to God. Jesus showed us that no man was a hopeless case. Certain considerations have to be made on how the miracle happened. It can be noticed that the leper had the courage to approach Jesus and in humility knelt and begged him specifically to heal him. This indicates that if one is truly sincere in his heart in seeking for healing, the Lord, who is compassionate, will take pity and lend a healing hand. Jesus sternly warned the healed person not to publicize the incident. However, joy and happiness overwhelmed the healed one; he could not contain the wonderful miracle that happened and he simply had to share this delightful feeling of being "saved." This is a picture of a truly converted person who became a passionate witness and evangelizer. We ought to emulate him. Jesus nevertheless followed the legal requirements that the person healed had to present himself before a priest for a confirmation of his healing. Though Jesus was beyond human laws, He still respected the human conditions of His time.

  • Fr. Jose Caballes, SVD

The Word in other words 2017

An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.

 

More Articles ...

  1. January 11, 2017 Wednesday
  2. January 10, 2017 Tuesday
  3. January 9, 2017 Monday
  4. January 8, 2017 Sunday
  5. January 7, 2017 Saturday
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