Daily Reflection | Gospel Reading | RVA

daily gospel gospel reading bible reflection

THE WORD

FIRST READING: 2 Sm 12,7-10.13

Then Nathan said to David: “You are the man!”

“Thus says the LORD God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel. I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your lord’s house and your lord’s wives for your own. I gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were not enough, I could count up for you still more. Why have you despised the LORD and done what is evil in his sight? You have cut down Uriah the Hittite with the sword; his wife you took as your own, and him you killed with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.

Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” Nathan answered David:  “For his part, the LORD has removed your sin. You shall not die.

 

SECOND READING: Gal 2,16.19-21

[Yet] who know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

For through the law I died to the law, that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me. I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.

 

GOSPEL: Lk 7,36-50

One of the Pharisees invited Jesus to a meal. When he arrived at the Pharisee’s house and took his place at table, a woman came in, who had a bad name in the town. She had heard he was dining with the Pharisee and had brought with her an alabaster jar of ointment. She waited behind him at his feet, weeping, and her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them away with her hair, then she covered his feet with kisses and anointed them with the ointment.

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would know who this woman is that is touching him and what a bad name she has.’ Then Jesus took him up and said, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ ‘Speak Master’ was the reply. ‘There was once a creditor who had two men in his debt; one owed him five hundred denarii, the other fifty. They were unable to pay, so he pardoned them both. Which of them will love him more?’  ‘The one who was pardoned more, I suppose’ answered Simon. Jesus said, ‘You are right.’

Then he turned to the woman. ‘Simon,’ he said ‘you see this woman? I came into your house, and you poured no water over my feet, but she has poured out her tears over my feet and wiped them away with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but she has been covering my feet with kisses ever since I came in. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. For this reason I tell you that her sins, her many sins, must have been forgiven her, or she would not have shown such great love. It is the man who is forgiven little who shows little love.’

Then he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ Those who were with him at table began to say to themselves, ‘Who is this man, that he even forgives sins?’ But he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’

 

IN OTHER WORDS

Today’s Gospel has a powerful core message: God’s love concretized in his readiness to forgive.

God’s acceptance and love for us does not depend on who we are, on how we behave but on what and who He is. Thus, no matter how indifferent I behaved towards this God, no matter how I may have messed-up my life, no matter how un-Christian I may imagine myself to be, no matter how sinful I am, God forgives and he forgets. The NT is filled with Jesus’ parables regarding God’s offer of forgiveness and demonstrating that only they who accepted their sinfulness truly experienced God’s forgiveness.

Sad to say, so many people find it difficult to believe in such a forgiving God; in Him who gives them a second chance, who not only forgives our sins but also forgets them. In the OT are vivid images of this quality of God: (1)“God throws our sins behind him, at his back” and (2)“our sins are thrown into a pit that is bottomless.” However, only he who admits his sins and faults without any excuses can really experience God’s forgiving love. This honesty is the first step to receiving God’s pardon and forgiveness.

To be realistic, not because our sins have been forgiven that their psychological effects on us are also automatically healed. Deeply ingrained habits will never go overnight. I have to cooperate with God’s forgiving love through discipline and sincere eff orts to overcome the cravings of the past and to let myself be gradually cured.

Many are also bothered about their seeming inability to forgive. They feel insincere that even after a good confession, they are still resentful and hate whoever has hurt them deeply. The expectation for quick healing stems from a wrong notion of our being human. We are not like fluorescent lamps that light up or go off depending on the switches. God created us with a heart that takes time to heal from a deep seated hurt. When we forgive somebody who hurt us deeply, even God does not expect the hurt and resentment to disappear quickly. We can learn from Martin Luther King on what it means for a Christian to forgive: “When I forgive, the feelings of resentment and hatred are still in my heart. My heart still throbs with pain and hurt. However, as a Christian, I do not want this feeling of resentment and hatred to become a wall between me and the person who hurt me such that I cannot anymore reach out to him in Christian charity, especially if he is in need of my help.

It will take time for that hurt to heal.” Ang kailangan, hindi natin gagatungan by dwelling on and entertaining the pain and the memory of what happened, every time I am reminded of what happened.  I have to let go of them. To forgive means the will to forgive no matter what my heart says!

  • Fr. Jose Magdaleno Fabiosa, SVD | USC, Talamabn, 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.

 

 

THE WORD

Ac 11,21-26; 13,1-3 / Mt 10,7-13 (or Mt, 5,33-37)

Jesus said to the Twelve, “As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.

Do not take gold or silver or copper for your bells; no sack for the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals, or walking stick. The laborer deserves his keep. Whatever town or village you enter, look for a worthy person in it, and stay there until you leave. As you enter a house, wish it peace. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; if not, let your peace return to you.”

 

IN OTHER WORDS

Today, the Memorial of St. Barnabas, St. Paul’s companion on his rst missionary journey, the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles tells of Barnabas’ role in the Church in Antioch and narrates how he and Paul were set aside by the Spirit for the proclamation of the Gospel to the Gentiles.

And in the Gospel reading, we read Jesus giving instructions to his disciples as they are being sent out on a mission. Jesus deliberately instructs them to take nothing for the journey.

To take nothing for the journey is to go deliberately empty-handed. It is to seek hospitality from the people; it is to allow oneself to be dependent on the people; to be a recipient of the gifts of the people, to be ministered to by the people, to be indebted to the people. To take nothing for the journey is to realize that the people are not just to be recipients of our gifts but a rich resource for mission. It is relying solely on God’s grace and completely on the generosity of the people. In the end, to take nothing for the journey is to encounter Jesus among the people, and to realize that mission is not the giving of what we have, but the sharing of what we ourselves have received – the good news of Jesus. To take nothing for the journey is to believe that Mission is “Missio Dei”, God’s mission. And because Mission is God’s, we need to rely completely on his grace and never on our gifts, talents or possessions.

In mission, we go empty-handed, for only then can we allow the people to be filled with God. To take nothing for the journey is to approach mission in humility, poverty, and powerlessness.

And, as the Gospel reading tells us, it is because the disciples took nothing for the journey that they “drove out demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.”

  • Fr. Antonio Pernia, SVD | DWIMS,Tagaytay 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.

 

THE WORD

1 Kgs 19, 9.11-16 / Mt 5, 27-32

Jesus said to his disciples, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

“If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.

“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.’  But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”

 

IN OTHER WORDS

On my way from Manila to our SVD Mission Center in San Jose, Batangas, I told my driver “mag rosary na tayo.” As I was bringing out my rosary from my pocket, the driver went to the side of the road, and pointed to me the grocery!

What is in your heart? “Rosary” or “grocery?” What preoccupies your mind most of the time? What are your priorities? May we not forget the Lord in the midst of so many worldly activities and concerns.

Let us be reminded today that the most important journey in life is our journey to God’s  heart. Let not our financial journey, career journey, popularity journey, power journey, etc. divert or prevent us from coming closer to God’s heart. The bottom line is that it profits us nothing if we gain the whole world, and in the end lose our souls. Today, in prayer, heart-to-heart, let us ask our Lord and our Blessed Mother to help us see what is really in our hearts, and to remove whatever destroys our clarity of purpose and purity of heart.

“May the darkness of sin and the night of unbelief vanish before the light of the Word and the spirit of grace. And may the heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all.” (St. Arnold Janssen, SVD)

  • Fr. Jerry Orbos, SVD | San Jose, Batangas

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.

 

 

THE WORD

1 Kgs 18,41-46 / Mt 5,20-26

Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.  “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go fi rst and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”

 

IN OTHER WORDS

“Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Scribes and the Pharisees, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.”  It is clear from this Gospel passage that the “righteousness” of the Scribes and Pharisees was not enough for them to enter the Kingdom of heaven. It was a righteousness that consisted merely of an external observance of the law or the practice of its minimum requirements. Thus, righteousness from this perspective means that one is observing the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” as long as he/she does not commit murder. Not necessarily, though. It is not enough not to kill as taught by the law. Being angry or even calling somebody “buang” or ‘fool’ is already a sin, says the Gospel.

Let us look for a more reliable standard to help guide us in our quest for God’s kingdom. Let it be the standard of Christ, so that we will never go wrong. For God did not judge or condemn us but offered his life on the cross for the forgiveness of ours sins. In the same way, he wants us to be reconciled with our brothers and sisters by making peace with them, rather than by wishing them ill.

Truly, if there is somebody who has surpassed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, that somebody is none other than Christ himself. Without fear of being wrong, we can look up to Him as our salvific standard of righteousness, to measure and to imitate as God our Father in heaven would like us to do.  As our standard, we can liken Christ and ourselves to a satellite and to an atomic clock, respectively.

As the atomic clock re-calibrates itself and adjusts itself to the exact time of the day or night by satellite, so we, too, need to re-calibrate ourselves every now and then to be in sync with Christ, who is our Universal Standard in which all of life is measured.

  • Fr. Vicente Uy, SVD | HNU, Tagbilaran ,Bohol

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.

 

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  3. June 6, 2016 Monday
  4. June 5, 2016 Sunday
  5. June 25, 2016 Saturday
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