Daily Reflection | Gospel Reading | RVA

Gospel: John 1:29-34
The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “There is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! It is he of whom I said: A man comes after me, who is already ahead of me, for he was before me. I myself did not know him, but I came baptizing to prepare for him, so that he might be revealed in Israel.” And John also gave this testimony, “I saw the Spirit coming down on him, like a dove from heaven, and resting on him. I myself did not know him, but God, who sent me to baptize, told me, ‘You will see the Spirit coming down, and resting on the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ Yes, I have seen! And I declare that this is the Chosen One of God!”

Reflections
“There is the Lamb of God.”
According to Luke, the mo­thers of Jesus and John were “kinswomen.” (Lk 1:36). Yet John here reveals no prior familia­rity with Jesus; “I myself did not know him,” he says. Neverthe­less, on the basis of a sign he had been awaiting, he instantly recognized Jesus as “the Chosen One of God.”John was living for this mo­ment. His personal mission was entirely attuned to such a sign, and he recognized it when it arrived. There where probably others at the scene who strained their eyes to see who John was talking about: “What? Who? You mean him?”Are we capable of recognizing the presence of the Spirit when it appears in our lives or our moment in history? In most cases it does not appear in the form of a dove. Perhaps it comes in a flash of understanding, or an occasion of reconciliation, or a long­awaited victory for the cause of justice. Others may let it pass. It is only with the eyes of faith, long attuned to such signs, that we may find ourselves able to proclaim: “Yes, I have seen!”

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Daily Reflection 2019

Daily Reflection 2019

Bible Diary ® is a product of Claretian Publications, a division of Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc. (CCFI) which is a pastoral endeavor of the Claretian Missionaries in the Philippines that brings the Word of God to people from all walks of life. CCFI aims to promote integral evangelization and renewed spirituality that is geared towards empowerment and total liberation in response to the needs and challenges of the Church today.

CCFI is a member of Claret Publishing Group, a consortium of the publishing houses of the Claretian Missionaries all over the world: Bangalore, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Chennai, Colombo, Dar es Salaam, Lagos, Madrid, Macao, Manila, Owerry, São Paolo, Varsaw , Yaoundé.

Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57^th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL

With permission from the EPISCOPAL COMMISION ON LITURGY of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines

 

Bible Diary ® 2019
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Gospel: John 1:19-28
This was the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites to ask him, Who are you?” John recognized the truth, and did not deny it. He said, “I am not the Messiah.” And they asked him, “Then who are you? Elijah?” He answered, “I am not.” They said, “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Tell us who you are, so that we can give some answer to those who sent us. How do you see yourself?” And John said, quoting the prophet Isaiah, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord!” Those who had been sent were Pharisees; and they put a further question to John, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are not the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?”John answered, “I baptize you with water, but among you stands one whom you do not know; although he comes after me, I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandal.”

Reflections
“I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness.”
Asked to identify himself, John the Baptist first answers by saying who he is not: he is not Elijah, nor is the Prophet (both expected forerunners of the Messiah), nor the Messiah him­self. Then who is he? His answer is elusive. Invoking a line from Isaiah, he calls himself “the voice of one crying out in the wilder­ness: Make straight the way of the Lord!” In other words, asked to say who he is, he identifies himself in terms of his relation to Another. It is unclear at this point if John himself knew the identity of the one he was awaiting, the one whose sandal strap he was unworthy to tie. What is impor­tant is John’s recognition that he does not proclaim himself. The message of his life is more like a question, to which Another will provide the answer. Is this not the life of every Christian? It is impossible to name the identity of a Christian except by reference to the One we follow. Unworthy as we may be, we are called to clear a path for Him in our families, our com­munities, our places of work, and our moment in history.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Daily Reflection 2019

Daily Reflection 2019

Daily Reflection 2019

Bible Diary ® is a product of Claretian Publications, a division of Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc. (CCFI) which is a pastoral endeavor of the Claretian Missionaries in the Philippines that brings the Word of God to people from all walks of life. CCFI aims to promote integral evangelization and renewed spirituality that is geared towards empowerment and total liberation in response to the needs and challenges of the Church today.

CCFI is a member of Claret Publishing Group, a consortium of the publishing houses of the Claretian Missionaries all over the world: Bangalore, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Chennai, Colombo, Dar es Salaam, Lagos, Madrid, Macao, Manila, Owerry, São Paolo, Varsaw , Yaoundé.

Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57^th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL

With permission from the EPISCOPAL COMMISION ON LITURGY of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines

 

Bible Diary ® 2019
Copyright © 2O17 
Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc.
U.P. P.O. Box 4, Diliman,
1101 Quezon City, Philippines
Tel.: (63-2) 921-3984
Fax: (6352) 921-7429
Email: ccfi@claretianpublicationscom
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Web: www.claretianph.com

Gospel: Luke 2:16-21
So they came hurriedly, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the feeding trough. On seeing him, they related what they had been told about the child; and all were astonished on hearing the shepherds. As for Mary, she treasured all these words, and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds then returned, giving glory and praise to God for all they had heard and seen, just as the angels had told them. On the eighth day, the circumcision of the baby had to be performed; he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

Reflections
“She treasured all these words, and pondered them in her heart.”
The Nativity of Jesus is accompanied by various signs and wonders—not least the arrival of shepherds, who report  that an angel had instructed them to look for the newborn Messiah in a feeding trough. Can anyone imagine a less auspicious sign of “great joy for all the people” (Lk 2:16)? And could anyone imagine less auspicious witnesses for such an event? While shepherds in the Hebrew Scriptures find favor with God, actual shepherds in the time of Jesus were among the poor and marginal class of people—what one scholar has called “the ex­pendables.” Certainly this encounter itself was a sign—that God’s good news comes in unexpected forms and where we might least expect it. In future years this child would be called many things— Good Shepherd, as well as Lamb of God. His identity would be an­ nounced to important people, who would torture and kill him. But in the beginning, it was to certain poor shepherds, tired from keeping watch, rank with the smell of their sheep, that the Gospel of great joy was first re­vealed. Certainly all this Mary—a poor young woman of the com­mon people—treasured and pondered in her heart.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Daily Reflection 2019

Daily Reflection 2019

Daily Reflection 2019

Daily Reflection 2019

Bible Diary ® is a product of Claretian Publications, a division of Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc. (CCFI) which is a pastoral endeavor of the Claretian Missionaries in the Philippines that brings the Word of God to people from all walks of life. CCFI aims to promote integral evangelization and renewed spirituality that is geared towards empowerment and total liberation in response to the needs and challenges of the Church today.

CCFI is a member of Claret Publishing Group, a consortium of the publishing houses of the Claretian Missionaries all over the world: Bangalore, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Chennai, Colombo, Dar es Salaam, Lagos, Madrid, Macao, Manila, Owerry, São Paolo, Varsaw , Yaoundé.

Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57^th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL

With permission from the EPISCOPAL COMMISION ON LITURGY of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines

 

Bible Diary ® 2019
Copyright © 2O17 
Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc.
U.P. P.O. Box 4, Diliman,
1101 Quezon City, Philippines
Tel.: (63-2) 921-3984
Fax: (6352) 921-7429
Email: ccfi@claretianpublicationscom
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Web: www.claretianph.com