Daily Reflection | Gospel Reading | RVA

FEAST OF THE NATIVITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
Psalter: Proper / (White)

Ps 13:6ab, 6c
With delight I rejoice in the Lord.

1st Reading: Mi 5:1-4a (or Rom 8:28-30)
But you, Bethlehem Ephrata, so small that you are hardly named among the clans of Judah; from you shall I raise the one who is to rule over Israel. For he comes forth from of old, from the ancient times. Yahweh, therefore, will abandon Israel until such time as she, who is to give birth, has given birth. Then the rest of his deported brothers will return to the people of Israel. He will stand, and shepherd his flock with the strength of Yahweh, in the glorious Name of Yahweh, his God. They will live safely, while he wins renown to the ends of the earth. He shall be peace. When the Assyrian invades our land and sets foot on our territory, we will raise against him not one, but seven shepherds; eight warlords.

Gospel: Mt 1:1-16, 18-23*
This is the account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham.
Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.
Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (their mother was Tamar), Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron of Aram. Aram was the father of Aminadab, Aminadab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon.
Salmon was the father of Boaz. His mother was Rahab. Boaz was the father of Obed. His mother was Ruth. Obed was the father of Jesse.
Jesse was the father of David, the king. David was the father of Solomon. His mother had been Uriah‘s wife. (…)
After the deportation to Babylon, Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel and Salathiel of Zerubbabel.
Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud, Abiud of Eliakim, and Eliakim of Azor. Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, and Akim the father of Eliud. Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar of Matthan, and Matthan of Jacob.
Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and from her came Jesus who is called the Christ — the Messiah.
This is how Jesus Christ was born: Mary, his mother had been given to Joseph in marriage, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.
Then Joseph, her husband, made plans to divorce her in all secrecy. He was an upright man, and in no way did he want to disgrace her. While he was pondering over this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She has
conceived by the Holy Spirit, and now she will bear a son. You shall call him ‘Jesus‘ for he will save his people from their sins.“ All this happened in order to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and he will be called Emmanuel, which means: God-with-us.

Reflections
An ecological reflection is the lens to see the wider meaning of the gospel today. We need a deeper appropriation of the meaning of God-with-us in Christ. We need to redefine the appreciation of God-with-us to the appreciation of God-with-all-living-creatures including the non-human. The incarnation of God in Christ can be seen as a profound and sweeping gesture and stance, that is, an incarnation into the very tissue of biological existence and system of nature. Richard Rohr connects creation and incarnation:
Two thousand years ago was the human incarnation of God in Jesus, but before that there was the first and original incarnation through light, water, land, sun, moon, stars, plants, trees, fruit, birds, serpents, cattle, fish, and “every kind of wild beast“ according to our own creation story (Genesis 1:3-25). This was the “Cosmic Christ“ through which God has “let us know the mystery of his purpose, the hidden plan he so kindly made from the beginning in Christ“ (Ephesians 1:9). Christ is not Jesus' last name, but the title for his life's purpose. Jesus is the very concrete truth revealing and standing in for the universal truth. As Colossians puts it, “He is the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation.“ (1:15), he is the one glorious part that names and reveals the even more glorious whole. “The fullness is founded in him... everything in heaven and everything on earth" (Colossians1:19-20).

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
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Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc.
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22ND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Psalter: Week 2 / (Green)

Ps 37:3-4, 5-6, 27-28, 39-40
The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.

1^st Reading: 1 Cor 4:1-5

Let everyone, then, see us as the servants of Christ, and stewards of the secret works of God. Being stewards, faithfulness shall be demanded of us; but I do not mind if you, or any human court, judges me. I do not even judge myself; my conscience, indeed, does not accuse me of anything, but that is not enough for me to be set right with God: the Lord is the one who judges me. Therefore, do not judge before the time, until the coming of the Lord. He will bring to light whatever was hidden in darkness and will disclose the secret intentions of the hearts. Then, each one will receive praise from God.

Gospel: Lk 5:33-39

 Some people asked him, “The disciples of John fast often and say long prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees. Why is it, that your disciples eat and drink?” Then Jesus said to them “You can’t make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them. But later, the bridegroom will be taken from them; and they will fast in those days.”

Jesus also told them this parable: “No one tears a piece from a new coat to put it on an old one; otherwise the new coat will be torn, and the piece taken from the new coat will not match the old coat. No one puts new wine into old wine skins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed as well. But new wine must be put into fresh skins. Yet, no one who has tasted old wine is eager to drink new wine, but says, ‘The old is good.’”

Reflections

Pope Francis, in one of his Masses in Rome, said:

“Being Christian means allowing oneself to be renewed by Jesus in this new life. ‘I am a good Christian, I go to Mass every Sunday from 11 till noon, I do this, I do that’... as if it were a collection. But the Christian life is not a collage of things. It is a harmonious whole, harmonious, and the Holy Spirit does it! He renews all things: He renews our heart, our life, and makes us live differently, but in a way that takes up the whole of our life. You cannot be a Christian of pieces, a part-time Christian. Being a part-time Christian simply doesn’t work! The whole, everything, full-time. The Spirit accomplishes this renewal. Being Christian ultimately means not doing things, but allowing oneself to be renewed by the Holy Spirit – or, to use the words of Jesus, becoming new wine.”

Being a part-time Christian is an old wineskin. Being a Christian of pieces means seeking my comfort zones and compromising my values. I take what is cool and I leave what is challenging in my life. The arrangement that I keep does not propel me to grow as a person but simply allows me to keep things as they are. Everything that matters has remained too private and has not impacted on my relationships with others and the world. True renewal is not measured by my personal view on wellness. It requires the difficult work of inner conversion, a deep change of mind and heart. It demands the courage to face the true self and put on a new wineskin. True renewal is new wine in fresh skins. The search for new wineskins is to find Jesus that opens the door to our deepest center.

Daily Reflection 2018

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

22ND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Psalter: Week 2 / (Green)

Ps 24:1bc-2, 3-4ab, 5-6
To the Lord belongs the earth and all that fills it.

1^st Reading: 1 Cor 3:18-23

Do not deceive yourselves. If anyone of you considers himself wise in the ways of the world, let him become a fool, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s eyes. To this, Scripture says: God catches the wise in their own wisdom.

It also says: The Lord knows the reasoning of the wise, that it is useless. Because of this, let no one boast about human beings, for everything belongs to you; Paul, Apollos, Cephas — life, death, the present and the future. Everything is yours, and you, you belong to Christ, and Christ is of God.

Gospel: Lk 5:1-11

 One day, as Jesus stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, with a crowd gathered around him listening to the word of God, he caught sight of two boats, left at the water’s edge by fishermen, now washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to pull out a little from the shore. There he sat, and continued to teach the crowd.

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” Simon replied, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing. But if you say so, I will lower the nets.” This they did, and caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. They signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came, and they filled both boats almost to the point of sinking.

Upon seeing this, Simon Peter fell at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Leave me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and his companions were amazed at the catch they had made, and so were Simon’s partners, James and John, Zebedee’s sons.

Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. You will catch people from now on.” So they brought their boats to land and followed him, leaving everything.

Reflections

It is a daring move to leave everything and to risk one’s life with someone calling you to follow him. One needs a beneficial motive to turn away from a lifetime’s work and venture into an unknown future. Fishing is what Simon Peter knows. It is his path to daily bread and what really matters to him. He has his boat, his nets, his friends.

When Jesus and his crowd turn up on the beach, there may have been nothing but a little more than a distraction – a crowd listening to Jesus interested to listen to his teachings and Simon Peter had no time for that. He had a fruitless night and he needed to wash these useless nets. He is tired and ready to sleep. He will need renewed strength to throw them all again tomorrow. So it must have seemed strange when Jesus climbed aboard. The request to try again to fish may have seemed even stranger. It is enough to make a tired man laugh. Something tells Simon that this is worth the risk. The boat moved and the nets lowered, filled, and all too soon there are two boats at risk of sinking under the catch of the day. Simon’s initial response is to send Jesus away. Simon is now only conscious of the distance between himself and Jesus. Simon has touched the nearness and grace of God and has made him aware of his unworthiness: ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!’ Jesus understands what is happening. Fear can make a person reject another. And so, embracing Simon’s hesitation and fear, Jesus responds with an invitation to follow him and from now on he will be catching people.’ And so Simon and his companions leave everything behind and begin a new life-project.

Daily Reflection 2018

Daily Reflection 2018

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

22ND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Psalter: Week 2 / (Green)

Ps 33:12-13, 14-15, 20-21
Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

1^st Reading: 1 Cor 3:1-9

I could not, friends, speak to you as spiritual persons but as fleshly people, for you are still infants in Christ. I gave you milk, and not solid food, for you were not ready for it and, up to now, you cannot receive it, for you are still of the flesh. As long as there is jealousy and strife, what can I say, but that you are at the level of the flesh, and behave like ordinary people.

While one says: “I follow Paul,” and the other: “I follow Apollos,” what are you, but people still at a human level?

For what is Apollos? What is Paul? They are ministers; and through them, you believed, as it was given by the Lord to each of them. I planted, Apollos watered the plant, but God made it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything but God, who makes the plant grow.

The one who plants and the one who waters work to the same end, and the Lord will pay each, according to their work. We are fellow-workers with God, but you are God’s field and building.

Gospel: Lk 4:38-44

 Leaving the synagogue, Jesus went to the house of Simon. His mother-in-law was suffering from high fever, and they asked him to do something for her. Bending over her, he rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately, she got up and waited on them.

At sunset, people suffering from many kinds of sickness were brought to Jesus. Laying his hands on each one, he healed them. Demons were driven out, howling as they departed from their victims, “You are the Son of God!” He rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, for they knew he was the Messiah.

Jesus left at daybreak and looked for a solitary place. People went out in search of him, and finding him, they tried to dissuade him from leaving. But he said, “I have to go to other towns, to announce the good news of the kingdom of God. That is what I was sent to do.” And Jesus continued to preach in the synagogues of Galilee.

Reflections

He “laid his hands on every one of them” and healed them from their illnesses. As Jesus had announced in the synagogue in Nazareth, the Reign of God is now actively entering the lives of people with Jesus bringing them healing and wholeness. Evil spirits shouted at Jesus “You are the Son of God” as an effort to control him. Whether these were actual cases of possession or were psychological or moral disorders which made people behave in abnormal and harmful ways is not clear. But clearly the presence of the Kingdom is being felt. Healing is taking place and those possessed by evil spirits are freed from their clutches. They experience the healing power of Jesus.

At daybreak, he went off into a quiet place. The desert is the place where God is to be found and very likely, Jesus went there to be alone and pray. The people, who had seen what he did for them, wanted him to stay with them. But he could not and would not. “I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also; that is why I have been sent.” No place could have a monopoly on his healing presence. We need to follow him and keep close to him but we cannot cling to him in a way that prevents others from experiencing his healing touch.

Daily Reflection 2018

Daily Reflection 2018

Daily Reflection 2018

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