Daily Reflection | Gospel Reading | RVA

Gospel: Luke 7:1-10
When Jesus had finished teaching the people, he went to Capernaum.
A Roman military officer lived there, whose servant was very sick and near to death, a man very dear to him. So when he heard about Jesus, he sent some elders of the Jews to persuade him to come and save his servant’s life. The elders came to Jesus and begged him earnestly, saying, “He deserves this of you, for he loves our people and even built a synagogue for us.”
Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house, when the Roman officer sent friends to give this message, “Sir, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to welcome you under my roof. You see, I didn’t approach you myself. Just give the order, and my servant will be healed. For I myself, a junior officer, give orders to my soldiers, and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; and to the other, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”
On hearing these words, Jesus was filled with admiration. He turned and said to the people with him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.” The people, sent by the captain, went back to his house; there they found that the servant was well.

Reflections
“I found such great faith.”
The visit of Saint Pope John Paul II in the Philippines in 1995 culminated in the celebration of the Eucharist at Luneta Grand Stand in Manila. Until now I could not forget when my fellow seminarians and I went by bus to at- tend the mass. On the bus, I was seated beside a man who will also take part in the mass. Talking to him, he narrated how his father, who was suffering from a heart condition, got better. Using his own words, he said: “He got healed.” And he attributed the healing to the visit of the good pope. I am now inclined to think that this is one of the incidents unknown to the Church, unknown to Rome, regarding Saint John Paul II.
There are two important elements that are at work deep in- side the Roman officer, namely: love and faith. Our love for others leads us to approach God in faith, asking him to bestow his mercy upon a beloved. And our faith, which recognizes the power of God and sees God as the only hope, as all, as everything, gives us the confidence to approach him. Faith gives us access to the power of God and allows, in turn, God’s love to work powerfully in our lives and the lives of those we love.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: Luke 15:1-32*
Meanwhile tax collectors and sinners were seeking the company of Jesus, all of them eager to hear what he had to say. (…) So Jesus told them this parable:
“Who among you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, will not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and seek the lost one till he finds it? And finding it, will he not joyfully carry it home on his shoulders? Then he will call his friends and neighbors together, and say, ‘Celebrate with me, for I have found my lost sheep!’ I tell you, in the same way, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner, than over ninety-nine decent people, who do not need to repent.
What woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one, will not light a lamp, and sweep the house in a thorough search, till she finds the lost coin? And finding it, she will call her friends and neighbors, and say, ‘Celebrate with me, for I have found the silver coin I lost!’ I tell you, in the same way, there is rejoicing among the angels of God over one repentant sinner.”
Jesus continued, “There was a man with two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Give me my share of the estate.’ So the father divided his property between them.
Some days later, the younger son gathered all his belongings and started off for a distant land, where he squandered his wealth in loose living. Having spent everything, he was hard pressed when a severe famine broke out in that land. So he hired himself out to a well-to-do citizen of that place, and was sent to work on a pig farm. So famished was he, that he longed to fill his stomach even with the food given to the pigs, but no one offered him anything.
Finally coming to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will get up and go back to my father, and say to him, Father, I have sinned against God, and before you. I no longer deserve to be called your son. Treat me then as one of your hired servants.’ With that thought in mind, he set off for his father’s house. He was still a long way off, when his father caught sight of him. His father was so deeply moved with compassion that he ran out to meet him, threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. The son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.’
But the father turned to his servants: ‘Quick!’ he said. ‘Bring out the finest robe and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet! Take the fattened calf and kill it! We shall celebrate and have a feast, for this son of mine was dead, and has come back to life; he was lost, and is found!’ And the celebration began. ...

Lectio Divina
READ: Moses tells how he pleaded on behalf of the sinful people. Consequently, Yahweh changed his mind. Saint Paul acknowledges his sinfulness and gives thanks to Christ for his grace, mercy and forgiveness. The parable high- lights the rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner.
REFLECT: Such is the love and mercy of God to forgive even our most grievous sins. It is totally beyond measure and beyond compare. He could only forgive us our sins because he cannot disown us who came from him. He will do everything to bring us back to his loving embrace, to the point of sharing the materiality of the created order and becoming human like us. It greatly pleases God when we approach him with humility and seek his pardon. God’s forgiveness is life-giving because it reconnects us to him, the source of life. Forgiveness heals and restores what has been broken and lost.
PRAY: Merciful and loving God, give us the grace to learn to forgive and to ask for forgiveness.
ACT: Forgive others and forgive also one’s self. En- counter God and experience his forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: John 3:13-17
No one has ever gone up to heaven except the one who came from heaven, the Son of Man.
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
Yes, God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but may have eternal life. God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world; instead, through him the world is to be saved.

Reflections
“God so loved the world.”
The core stuff of the world is love; each of its component parts bears the pure, creative love of God. And since the world is created through the love of God, it can only be saved or “recreated” through the same love. But the way God has taken is costly. The price of loving and saving the world is his only Son. Jesus has become the fullest expression of God’s saving love. God’s pure love is made known and felt in many concrete ways through Jesus. There is no other way except by assuming a human form that this love may be communicated to humanity and the whole world. We need to experience the love of God in Jesus so that we ourselves will know how to love. Jesus is our model for loving others. By experiencing the love of God, we come to know how we can become agents of this love. Love takes possession of us so that God may continue saving and loving the world. This means that we, the people of God, are Christ’s co-worker. It is now through us, by the power of the Spirit, that his saving plan continues.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: Luke 6:39-42
And Jesus offered this example, “Can a blind person lead another blind person? Surely both will fall into a ditch. A disciple is not above the master; but when fully trained, he will be like the master. So why do you pay attention to the speck in your brother’s eye, while you have a log in your eye, and are not conscious of it? How can you say to your neighbor, ‘Friend, let me take this speck out of your eye,’ when you can’t remove the log in your own? You hypocrite! First remove the log from your own eye, and then you will see clearly enough to remove the speck from your neighbor’s eye.

Reflections
“You will see clearly enough.”
In one instance or another we have already come across an acquaintance, a friend, or a colleague, whom we have greeted nicely, but replied rather in a harsh, sarcastic manner. And we wonder why. Un- less she/he tells us we would not exactly know. We could just guess. In this kind of situation, we might opt to adopt God’s way of dealing with us: knowing our deepest thoughts and feelings, God, nevertheless, treats us with generosity, goodness, understanding and compassion. We need them in our day-to-day interaction with others. By trying to understand the person/the situation, we put our- selves in a position where we generously and compassionately give. By being understanding, we put ourselves in her/his own situation, thus seeing things from the other’s perspective. When we understand and consider where the person is coming from, we are more inclined to respond in love, mercy and tenderness. We prevent ourselves from passing inaccurate judgment(s). But here judging should not be construed as ignoring wrong or injustices commit- ted. It is simply putting ourselves in her/his own shoes so that we can respond lovingly. That is why it helps to keep in mind that we are not gifted the ability to read tho- roughly the content of the human heart, whereas Jesus knows fully well what is going on within us.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019