Daily Reflection | Gospel Reading | RVA

Gospel: Luke 1:39-56
Mary then set out for a town in the hill country of Judah. She entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leapt in her womb. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and, giving a loud cry, said, “You are most blessed among women; and blessed is the fruit of your womb! How is it, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? The moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby within me suddenly leapt for joy. Blessed are you, who believed that the Lord’s word would come true!”
And Mary said, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit exults in God, my savior!
He has looked upon his servant, in her lowliness, and people, forever, will call me blessed.
The Mighty One has done great things for me, Holy is his Name!
From age to age, his mercy extends to those who live in his presence.
He has acted with power and done wonders, and scattered the proud with their plans.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and lifted up those who are downtrodden.
He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty.
He held out his hand to Israel, his servant, for he remembered his mercy, even as he promised to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.”
Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months, and then returned home.

Reflections
“You are most blessed among women.”
In most of my adult life, I have not paid much attention to Mary and her important role in the history of salvation. However, it dawned on me that without her “yes” to the announcement of the angel Gabriel, God’s saving plan would have been frustrated.
What made her “most blessed among women”? What is truly special about her?
Three reasons come to mind why Elizabeth rightly declared her as the most blessed among women and why people of every generation would call her bles­sed: first, God himself chose her; second, she said “yes” to the an­nouncement of the angel Gabriel. The third, I want to give empha­ sis: she carried the Son of God in her womb for nine months; she brought Jesus to human life; she nursed him in infancy; she played with him when he was a boy; she cared for him as he grows; she was a witness as to how he con­ducted his ministry; and, she was there when he suffered and died on the cross. Imagine the interaction between the mother and the Son of God! Imagine also the inti­macy between them!
This is why I believe that the risen Christ appeared to Mary before he ascended back to the Father.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: Matthew 18:15-20
If your brother has sinned against you, go and point out the fault to him, when the two of you are alone; and if he listens to you, you have won back your brother. If he doesn’t listen to you, take with you one or two others, so that the case may be decided by the evidence of two or three witnesses. And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembled Church. But if he does not listen to the Church, then regard him as a pagan, or a tax collector.
I say to you: whatever you bind on earth, heaven will keep bound; and whatever you unbind on earth, heaven will keep unbound.
In like manner, I say to you, if, on earth, two of you agree In like manner, I say to you, if, on earth, two of you agree.

Reflections
“I am there among them.”
The early Christian Church/ communities was not free from discord, misunderstanding, hos­tility, etc., in spite of the presence of the Jesus’ immediate disciples. Striking within the Christian com­munities is the recognition of the presence of their risen Lord. They truly believe that the risen Jesus is with them.
To say that Jesus is in our midst, with us, means regarding our fellow humans with dignity; and treating them with love and understanding, even when they commit a mistake, when they misbehave, always allowing room for forgiveness and rec­tification. It means respecting, caring for others as a sister and as a brother, praying only the good for them and not harm, and wishing them blessings of every kind, not misfortune. In our ecological age, it would also mean that Jesus is present in the natural world, in every “good” creature of God. That’s why our respect for human life needs to be extended in all forms of life on Earth, which bear and mani­fest the love of God. It means recognizing the rights of other creatures for existence and their intrinsic value. This time, the pro­noun “our” in the phrase“Jesus in our midst” includes both human and nonhuman creatures.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14
At that time, the disciples came to Jesus and asked him, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Then Jesus called a little child, set the child in the midst of the disciples, and said, “I assure you, that, unless you change, and become like little children, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble, like this child, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and whoever receives such a child, in my name, receives me.
See that you do not despise any of these little ones; for I tell you, their angels in heaven continually see the face of my heavenly Father.
What do you think of this? If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them strays, won’t he leave the ninety ­nine on the hillside, and go to look for the stray one? And I tell you, when he finally finds it, he is more pleased about it, than about the ninety­ nine that did not go astray. It is the same with your Father in heaven. Your Father in heaven doesn’t want even one of these little ones to perish.

Reflections
“Whoever becomes humble, like this child.”
Why did Jesus set the childlike humility as the measure of great­ness and the requisite to be able to enter of heaven? It is because childlike humility does not have any pretentions. It fully recognizes the self as being inadequate to do simple and great things. It sees beyond itself a power behind all achievements and all underta­kings. It does not see itself as the originator; it points to something else that is greater. And so, it does not usurp the credit. Childlike hu­mility does not seek recognition for accomplishments. It does not need social status and power; it is at peace with being what it is. It strips one’s self of those things that make one arrogant and conceited. Without this childlike humility we will look down on others and God is situated at the periphery of life and human affairs, to the point of not being there at all.
Jesus is out of the picture. Child­ like humility brings Jesus back into the picture. It locates Jesus at the center, the source, and the goal of all actions. This is precisely why it is the ticket to enter God’s reign of love.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: Matthew 17:22-27
While Jesus was in Galilee with the Twelve, he said to them, “The Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. But he will rise on the third day.” The Twelve were deeply grieved.
When they returned to Capernaum, the temple tax collectors came to Peter and asked him, “Does your master pay the temple tax?” He answered, “Yes.”
Peter then entered the house; and immediately, Jesus asked him, “What do you think, Simon? Who pay taxes or tribute to the kings of the earth: their sons or strangers and aliens?” Peter replied, “Strangers and aliens.” And Jesus told him, “The sons, then, are tax­ free. But, so as not to offend these people, go to the sea, throw in a hook, and open the mouth of the first fish you catch. You will find a coin in it. Take the coin and give it to them for you and for me.”

Reflections
“Give the coin to them for you and for me.”
Here, the gospel writer once again highlights Peter’s special po­sition, but this is not to say it is the focus of the passage. The writer lo­cates the “center of gravity” of the episode in the “teaching on free­dom balanced by concern to avoid unnecessary scandal” (Brendan Byrne). To Jesus, he is not obliga­ted to pay the temple tax, but still freely chose to do so out of consi­deration of the Jewish community, particularly the tax collectors.
A seminarian narrated an inci­dent during an apostolate work at Villa Maria, an indigenous people’s community in a mountainous area in our archdiocese. While walking back to the village, together with a man from the community, he saw ripe bananas still hanging on the plant and asked the man to get the bananas for them to eat and bring to the village. The man climbed up and got only a few bananas. Won­dering why he did not get them all, he asked him. In reply the man said: “We only get what is enough and leave the rest for others who might come this way and might be hungry.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2019