Daily Reflection | Gospel Reading | RVA

THE WORD

Ez 28,1-10 / Mt 19,23-30

Jesus then said to his disciples, “I assure you: it will be very hard for rich young people to enter the kingdom of heaven. I repeat: it is much harder for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.”

When the disciples heard this, they were completely amazed. “Who then can be saved?” they asked. Jesus looked straight at them and answered, “This is impossible for human beings, but for God everything is possible.” Then Peter spoke up,

“Look,” he said, “we have left everything and followed you, What will we have?” Jesus said to them, “you can be sure that when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne in the New Age, then you twelve followers of mine will also sit on the thrones, to rule the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake, will receive a hundred times more and will be given eternal life.”  But many who are now first will be last, and many who are now last will be first.

IN OTHER WORDS

The gospel of the rich young man describes in a vivid and tragic manner the danger of riches and material possessions. This is known as the gospel of the great refusal about which Jesus teaches an unforgettable lesson: “It will be difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus uses a simple simile. It will be as difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven as it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. Jesus does not say it will be impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. But that unless and until a person renounces false independence from God thinking he/she has everything that money can buy.

Unfortunately, money cannot buy everything even if some people say that money is the only thing. And money cannot save anyone. A person who grows in wealth and pride could forget dependence on God. His/her heart could grow haughty owing to material possessions and not realizing that things on earth are temporal and things spiritual are eternal. The possessions of mortals are also mortal and gone someday.

Humans are sadly never fully satisfied with what they have. Nothing seems to be enough. They fear the day when they may lose possessions. Hence life could become a strenuous and worried struggle to acquire more and more and to keep them as long as possible. The rich young man in the gospel is not given a name; he is not identified because he represents each one of us. We will all pass through “the needle’s e ye” unless we learn how to detach ourselves from riches and material possessions and get more attached to God by “choosing the better part.”

• Fr. Louie A. Punzalan, SVD | USC, Cebu City

The Word in other words 2016

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.

	Production : Fr. Carlos Maria de Guzman, Jr., SVD and Staff of Logos Publications
	Cover Design : Malou E. Domingo
	Liturgical Calendar : Fr. Atilano Corcuera, SVD
	Production Consultant : Fr. Gerardo del Pinado, SVD
	Scriptural Texts : New American Bible and Daily Roman Missal
	Cover artwork based on photos by Fr. Bar Fabella, SVD
	Published by : Logos Publications, Inc. 1916 Oroquieta St., Sta. Cruz, Manila
	Email Address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
	Telephone : +63 2 711 1323
	Fax : +63 2 732 273
	Copyright © 2015 Society of the Divine Word

 

THE WORD

Rev 11,19; 12,1-6.10 / 1 Cor 15,20-27 / Lk 1,39-56

During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” And Mary said:

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.

“The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him. He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart. “He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly.

The Hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped Israel his servant, remembering his mercy, according to his promise to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.

IN OTHER WORDS

On Mary’s important feasts we often hear Gounod’s or Schubert’s “Ave Maria” sang or played on an organ. Equally enthusiastic, the Bisayans sing “O Maria, Reyna sa Pilipinas,”while the city parishioners enjoy a modern Marian hymn “Gentle Woman.” The mother of the Lord was a gentle woman, a lady in many ways. Yet, it’s a gentleness imbued with strength to protect her children in need.

When Christianity faced a crisis against the powerful Turkish Ottoman Empire that aimed to wipe out Christianity and Western civilization, Pope Pius V urged the Christian soldiers to place their hopes not on their might but on the Blessed Mother to whom we pray, “Who is she who comes forth bright as the sun, fair as the moon, and terrible as an army set in battle array.”Mary, like a good mother that she is, does not want her children oppressed. Belonging to a race that toppled tyrants by God’s grace, the valiant Mary confidently prayed, “My soul does magnify the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior. …He has shown the power of his arm, he has routed the proud of heart. He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.”

In the Philippines, the underdogs won the epic Battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571. In 1646, in peril of being conquered by the Calvinist Dutch, the Spanish-Filipino forces prayed to Our Lady as they engaged their enemy in 5 naval battles. Victorious, they marched on bare feet to church in grateful praise for Our Lady’s miraculous intervention.

The woman God chose to be the mother of His only Son is gentle. Yet, as a good mother and rm “Reyna sa Pilipinas,” she will ght for her children whenever they are wronged.

• Fr. Florencio Lagura, SVD | U.S.A.

The Word in other words 2016

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.

	Production : Fr. Carlos Maria de Guzman, Jr., SVD and Staff of Logos Publications
	Cover Design : Malou E. Domingo
	Liturgical Calendar : Fr. Atilano Corcuera, SVD
	Production Consultant : Fr. Gerardo del Pinado, SVD
	Scriptural Texts : New American Bible and Daily Roman Missal
	Cover artwork based on photos by Fr. Bar Fabella, SVD
	Published by : Logos Publications, Inc. 1916 Oroquieta St., Sta. Cruz, Manila
	Email Address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
	Telephone : +63 2 711 1323
	Fax : +63 2 732 273
	Copyright © 2015 Society of the Divine Word

 

THE WORD

FIRST READING: Jer 38,4-6.8-10

Then the princes said to the king, “This man ought to be put to death. He is weakening the resolve of the soldiers left in this city and of all the people, by saying such things to them; he is not seeking the welfare of our people, but their ruin.” King Zedekiah answered:

“He is in your hands,” for the king could do nothing with them. And so they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Prince Malchiah, in the court of the guard, letting him down by rope. There was no water in the cistern, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.

The king happened to be sitting at the Gate of Benjamin, and Ebed-melech went there from the house of the king and said to him, “My lord king, these men have done wrong in all their treatment of Jeremiah the prophet, throwing him into the cistern. He will starve to death on the spot, for there is no more bread in the city.” Then the king ordered Ebedmelech the Ethiopian: “Take three men with you, and get Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.”

SECOND READING: Heb 12,1-4

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God. Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners, in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.

GOSPEL: Lk 12,49-53

Jesus said to his disciples, ‘I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already! There is a baptism I must still receive, and how great is my distress till it is over!

‘Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on a household of five will be divided: three against two and two against three, the father divided against the son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’

IN OTHER WORDS

Did Jesus, the God-man, also forget certain things or get inconsistent sometimes? One with some knowledge of what Jesus said and did in the gospels may well raise that question. For instance,at the Last Supper he said to his disciples,

“Peace I bequeath to you,
my own peace I give you,
a peace the world cannot give,
this is my gift to you.” (Jn14:27)

At that moment, did Jesus forget what he had said earlier on?

“Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.”

Doesn’t the earlier statement contradict the later one?

To be sure, Jesus would not say NO to peace now, and YES to peace later. He is truth in person (Jn 14:6) and he is immutable. He would consistently be for bestowing the gift of peace to the world.

The very reason in fact why the Word of God became flesh was precisely so that Man may be reconciled to God and so bring about peace. Jesus is truly our peace and reconciliation. And how did he bring about this reconciliation? By plunging himself into the immense river of suffering and death on the cross! This was the baptism that he was to receive.

What then is this division that Jesus said he came to bring? This must be the division resulting from taking a stand in loyalty to Jesus and to his friendship and his peace.

A case that would readily come to mind, among others, would be the one of St. Thomas More, the patron of lawyers. He became Lord Chancellor of England serving King Henry VIII who demanded that his marriage to Katherine of Aragon be declared null and void so that he could marry another woman, Anne Boleyn. Thomas More would not accede to the demand of the king. The inviolability of the sacrament of marriage was at stake! Nor would he take an oath which involved the repudiation of papal religious authority. His choice was clear and rm: to be on the side of Jesus and the true peace of his enduring friendship, rather than to give in to the whims of a vicious king and so continue to enjoy his favors in the false peace of compromise. He was then thrown out of the royal circle into the infamous Tower of London. After 15 months of imprisonment in the Tower, he was found guilty of denying the king’s supreme headship on earth of the church in England. But he would rather have his head chopped off than go against his conscience. And so Thomas More was beheaded, the “king’s good servant – but God’s first”, 6 July 1535.

And so, on and on… faith in Christ, love of him and his name, and zeal for his Kingdom and his cause must continue to spread like re, blazing upon the earth!

• Dong Alpuerto, SVD | USC-Talamban, Cebu City

The Word in other words 2016

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.

	Production : Fr. Carlos Maria de Guzman, Jr., SVD and Staff of Logos Publications
	Cover Design : Malou E. Domingo
	Liturgical Calendar : Fr. Atilano Corcuera, SVD
	Production Consultant : Fr. Gerardo del Pinado, SVD
	Scriptural Texts : New American Bible and Daily Roman Missal
	Cover artwork based on photos by Fr. Bar Fabella, SVD
	Published by : Logos Publications, Inc. 1916 Oroquieta St., Sta. Cruz, Manila
	Email Address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
	Telephone : +63 2 711 1323
	Fax : +63 2 732 273
	Copyright © 2015 Society of the Divine Word

 

THE WORD

Ez 18,1-10.13.30-32 / Mt 19,13-15

The children were brought to Jesus that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked them, but Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” After he placed his hands on them, he went away.

IN OTHER WORDS

Jesus loves children. It is most certainly because, children are guileless, they have a clean heart, for they know nothing about scheming or planning evil. Children trust. In the Gospel passage, children trusted their parents, when they were brought to Jesus. Happy indeed the children whose parents are models in searching for God.

Is God happy with adults? Yes and No. The first reading narrates that God gives long life to a virtuous man/woman. The virtuous person “shall surely live, says the Lord”. To those who remain sinless and do what is just and right, God loves them and is happy with them.

On the other hand, those who put God at the back seat and waste their time on “idols”, those who oppress, exact usury, rob people and practice abominations – they will surely die.

Fortunately, God has no pleasure in the death of anyone. He waits. He gives grace, so that those who are destined “to die” can have a change of heart and return to the Lord.

How fitting the response is to the reading today: “Create a clean heart in me, O God”.

Let me live.

• Fr. Atliano Corcuera, SVD | DSWT, Tagaytay City