Daily Reflection | Gospel Reading | RVA

24TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Psalter: Week 4 / (Green)

Ps 116:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9
I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.

1^st Reading: Is 50:5-9a

The Lord Yahweh has opened my ear. I have not rebelled, nor have I withdrawn.

I offered my back to those who strike me, my cheeks to those who pulled my beard; neither did I shield my face from blows, spittle and disgrace.

I have not despaired, for the Lord Yahweh comes to my help. So, like a flint I set my face, knowing that I will not be disgraced.

He who avenges me is near. Who then will accuse me? Let us confront each other. Who is now my accuser? Let him approach. If the Lord Yahweh is my help, who will condemn me?

All of them will wear out like cloth; the moth will devour them.

2^nd Reading: Jas 2:14-18

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, to profess faith, without showing works? Such faith has no power to save you. If a brother or sister is in need of clothes or food, and one of you says, “May things go well for you; be warm and satisfied,” without attending to their material needs, what good is that? So, it is, for faith without deeds: it is totally dead.

Say to whoever challenges you, “You have faith and I have good deeds; show me your faith apart from actions and I, for my part, will show you my faith in the way I act.”

Gospel: Mk 8:27-35

 Jesus set out with his disciples for the villages around Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” And they told him, “Some say, you are John the Baptist; others say, you are Elijah or one of the prophets.”

Then Jesus asked them, “But you, who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.” And he ordered them not to tell anyone about him.

Jesus then began to teach them that the Son of Man had to suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law. He would be killed, and after three days rise again. Jesus said all this quite openly, so that Peter took him aside and began to protest strongly. But Jesus, turning around, and looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind me, Satan! You are thinking not as God does, but as people do.”

Then Jesus called the people and his disciples, and said, “If you want to follow me, deny yourself; take up your cross and follow me. For if you choose to save your life, you will lose it; and if you lose your life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, you will save it.“+

Lectio Divina

Read: Translating our faith into concrete action will invite rejection, persecution, and suffering as the world prefers its own ignorance and selfish ways. Living the life of a prophet would mean thinking like God does, which necessarily invites conflict with the ways of the world. Jesus, being the Messiah, was no exception to this.

Reflect: What does it mean “to think like God does”? Who knows the mind of God except the Spirit that searches the depths of God? Are we capable of knowing the thoughts of God, let alone think like He does? Well, being finite human beings, we are unable to grasp the thoughts of God, but thanks to the life of Christ, we can perceive the deeds of God, deeds marked with compassion, love, forgiveness, and letting others be; and we can then work backwards: by doing what Christ did, we will appropriate the thoughts of God. James would wholeheartedly agree.

Pray: Let us pray for the grace to have our thoughts and deeds aligned with those of God.

Act: List out three actions to do this week, actions that would reflect the thoughts of God.

Daily Reflection 2018

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 ® 2018
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
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23RD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Our Lady of Sorrows
Psalter: Week 3 / (White)

Ps 116:12-13, 17-18
To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.

1^st Reading: 1 Cor 10:14-22

Therefore, dear friends, shun the cult of idols.

I address you as intelligent persons; judge what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a commu­nion with the blood of Christ? And the bread that we break, is it not a communion with the body of Christ? The bread is one, and so we, though many, form one body, sharing the one bread.

Consider the Israelites. For them, to eat of the victim is to come into communion with its altar.

What does all that mean? That the meat is really consecrated to the idol, or that the idol is a being. However, when the pagans offer a sacrifice, the sacrifice goes to the demons, not to God. I do not want you to come into ­fellowship with demons. You cannot drink, at the same time, from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons. You cannot share in the table of the Lord and in the table of the demons. Do we want, perhaps, to provoke the jealousy of the Lord? Could we be stronger than he?

Gospel: Jn 19:25-27 (or Lk 2:33-35)

 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister Mary, who was the wife of Cleophas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw the mother, and the disciple whom he loved, he said to the mother, “Woman, this is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “This is your mother.” And from that moment the disciple took her to his own home

Reflections

The cross brings us face to face with Jesus' suffering and death. He was alone. All his disciples had deserted him except for his mother and three women along with John, the beloved disciple. The apostles had fled in fear. But Mary, the mother of Jesus and three other women who loved him were present at the cross. They demonstrate a different presence - love and care overcoming fear and desolation.

At the beginning of Jesus' birth, when he was presented in the temple, Simeon had predicted that Mary would suffer greatly - a sword will pierce through your own soul (see Luke 2:33-35). What was said earlier to Mary and later became a painful reality in her life did not make a desperate and bitter woman in her sorrow and loss but a woman of faith and hope sustained by her faith in a Merciful God and the love she had for her Son. Saint Paul says that love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:3). We can find no greater proof of God‘s love for us than the fidelity of the Lord Jesus Christ to live the consequences of bearing the truth on the cross. His proclamation of the Reign of God – a Reign of justice and peace – is a call to a different social order and to a new social and personal behavior. The powers that be threatened by Jesus’ proclamation decided to put him to death and to silence the subversive call to social transformation. His death is a powerful testimony to the rejection of God’s love and the beginning of a new community inspired by God’s affirmation of the new humanity lived by Jesus.

Daily Reflection 2018

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 ® 2018
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
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Web: www.claretianph.com

FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS
Psalter: Proper / (Red)

Ps 78:1bc-2, 34-35, 36-37, 38
Do not forget the works of the Lord!

1^st Reading: Num 21:4b-9

From Mount Hor they set out by the Red Sea road to go around the land of Edom. The people were discouraged by the journey and began to complain against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is neither bread nor water here and we are disgusted with this tasteless manna.”

Yahweh then sent fiery serpents against them. They bit the people and many of the Israelites died. Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, speaking against Yahweh and against you. Plead with Yahweh to take the serpents away.”

Moses pleaded for the people and Yahweh said to him, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a standard; whoever has been bitten and then looks at it shall live.”

So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a standard. Whenever a man was bitten, he looked towards the bronze serpent and he lived.

2^nd Reading: Phil 2:6-11

Though he was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking on the nature of a servant, made in human likeness, and appeared as a man.

He humbled himself by being obedient, to death, death on the cross.

That is why God exalted him and gave him the name which outshines all names, so, that, at the name of Jesus all knees should bend in heaven, on earth and among the dead, and all tongues proclaim, that Christ Jesus is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Gospel: Jn 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

In the Gospel of John, the verb “believe” appear eighty-four times. The Johannine author stresses the significance of faith in the life of a follower of Jesus Christ. What is the nature of this “belief” without which we may be lost or unable to live life to the fullest? Is faith synonymous with strict adherence to a doctrine or dogma? A warm feeling in the heart? A rational discourse about faith? A decision made of free will? A gift of the Holy Spirit?

To begin, to “believe” is not simply a mental exercise, but “an all-embra­cing relationship, an attitude of love and trust in God.” The connection bet­ween God and humanity is central to the notion of faith. Immediately prior to this text, the encounter takes place between Jesus and Nicodemus. Their conversation concludes with Jesus asking a question of Nicodemus, a question that hangs between them, unanswered: “If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?” (John 3:12). Nicodemus is grappling with his relationship with Jesus. He is not ready to trust. He is doubting him. The call is to grow in a dynamic relationship with Jesus as we witness the truth of his love and the power of mercy in his dealing with the sinners and the outcasts. In a vacuum, devoid of merciful love, we perish in our own self-righteousness and self-sufficiency. To search for eternal life and to finally dwell in God’s loving gaze, we need to search the living water, the light of the world, the good shepherd who tends the sheep, who beckons us to love grandly and gratuitously. Just as our bodies require water to live, to avoid perishing, so our souls thirst for the living water, the relationship with the God of life.

Daily Reflection 2018

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 ® 2018
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
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Web: www.claretianph.com

23RD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
St. John Chrysostom, bishop & doctor
Psalter: Week 3 / (White)

Ps 139:1b-3, 13-14ab, 23-24
Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.

1^st Reading: 1 Cor 8:1b-7, 11-13

Regarding meat from the offerings to idols, we know that all of us have knowledge, but knowledge puffs up, while love builds. If anyone thinks that he has knowledge, he does not yet know as he should know, but if someone loves (God), he has been known (by God).

Can we, then, eat meat from offerings to the idols? We know that an idol is without existence and that there is no God but one. People speak indeed of other gods in heaven and on earth and, in this sense, there are many gods and lords. Yet for us, there is but one God, the Father, from whom everything comes, and to whom we go. And there is one Lord, Christ Jesus, through whom everything exists, and through him, we exist.

Not everyone, however, has that knowledge. For some persons, who, until recently, took the idols seriously, that food remains linked to the idol, and eating of it stains their conscience, which is unformed.

Then, with your knowledge, you would have caused your weak brother or sister to perish, the one for whom Christ died. When you disturb the weak conscience of your brother or sister, and sin against them, you sin against Christ himself. Therefore, if any food will bring my brother to sin, I shall never eat this food, lest my brother or sister fall.

Gospel: Lk 6:27-38

 But I say to you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you, and pray for those who treat you badly. To the one who strikes you on the cheek, turn the other cheek; from the one who takes your coat, do not keep back your shirt. Give to the one who asks, and if anyone has taken something from you, do not demand it back.

Do to others as you would have others do to you. If you love only those who love you, what kind of grace is yours? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do favors to those who are good to you, what kind of grace is yours? Even sinners do the same. If you lend only when you expect to receive, what kind of grace is yours? For sinners also lend to sinners, expecting to receive something in return.

But love your enemies and do good to them, and lend when there is nothing to expect in return. Then will your reward be great, and you will be sons and daughters of the Most High. For he is kind toward the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

“Don’t be a judge of others and you will not be judged; do not condemn and you will not be condemned; forgive and you will be forgiven; give and it will be given to you, and you will receive in your sack good measure, pressed down, full and running over. For the measure you give will be the measure you receive back.”

Reflections

For many people, the challenge of Jesus is the most difficult passage in the Gospel. It seems to express a way of life that is totally unrealistic and unattainable. We live today in a world of great violence, of terrorism, of violence and murder, of summary executions and extra-judicial killing. Where do Jesus’ words fit in? “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly.” We may feel that we are unable to follow this teaching. We think it would only encourage those people to behave even worse. But Jesus is extending love to the enemy and the sinners. This is the core of Jesus’ teaching, which he himself lived. The Golden Rule which is often expressed as “Do not do to others what you would not want them do to you” is expressed positively by Jesus. This, in fact, is the love that God has for us. It is a an expression of unconditional love. God reaches out in merciful love to every single person without exception. God wills the fullest well-being of every single person.

To love as God loves is to focus more on the needs of others. What is hurting inside them that drives them to such behavior? We begin to ask why do they have to act in this way. We can only do this if we have a strong inner sense of security and self-acceptance and above all having ourselves experienced God’s prodigal love.

Daily Reflection 2018

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 ® 2018
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