Daily Reflection | Gospel Reading | RVA

Gospel: Mk 3:13-19
Then Jesus went up into the hill country, and called those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed Twelve to be with him, and he called them ‘apostles.’ He wanted to send them out to preach; and he gave them authority to drive out demons.
These are the Twelve: Simon, to whom he gave the name Peter; James, son of Zebedee, and John his brother, to whom he gave the name Boanerges, which means ‘men of thunder’; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alpheus, Thaddeus, Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.

Reflections
CALLED TO BE APOSTLES
All of us Christians by virtue of our baptism are called to be apostles. Being an apostle means that we proclaim the Gospel — Good News of salvation. I think primarily this means that we ourselves have somehow to live what we preach. The good news is that God in his unconditional love for us has become one of us to make us understand and experience concretely what this love is all about. If our news is GOOD news, it has to show in our being that we are a people of joy. How can one proclaim a good news with a long face. But somehow in the maldevelopment of a certain type of spirituality, holiness has become identified with long ascetic face and joyless demeanor. Then of course preaching this good news means allowing oneself to be God’s instrument in “warming the hearts and healing wounds of people” as Pope Francis so wonderfully expresses it. I remember when I was studying in Germany, I used to visit a church where the crucifix has no arms because they were cut off when the Allies bombed the city during World War II. Beneath the cross, there is a sentence: “ I have no arms. YOU are my arms.”So one can say being an apostle means being God’s arms to embrace the world.

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

 

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Gospel: Mk 3:7-12
Jesus and his disciples withdrew to the lakeside, and a large crowd from Galilee followed him. A great number of people also came from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, Transjordan, and from the region of Tyre and Sidon, for they had heard of all that he was doing.
Because of the crowd, Jesus told his disciples to have a boat ready for him, to prevent the people from crushing him. He healed so many, that all who had diseases kept pressing toward him to touch him. Even the people who had evil spirits, whenever they saw him, they would fall down before him and cry out, “You are the Son of God.” But he warned them sternly not to tell anyone who he was.

Reflections
IN GOD I TRUST: I SHALL NOT FEAR
The refrain of the responsorial Psalm today is a wonderful consoling phrase. Fear is one of the emotions that shackle our soul. Fear paralyzes us. It prevents us from doing good, from taking a risk, from doing what is right. There are many kinds of fear — physical, psychological, emotional and it ranges from the fear of peoples’ opinion of us to fear of threats to our life and well-being. There are also reasonable as well as unfounded fears, of real fears and imagined fears. Whatever kind it is, it diminishes our inner freedom. So it is important to face our fears and see them for what they are. Facing them will make us realize what is imagined or exaggerated fear. But facing fear will make us also assess the causes of our fears. Freedom from fear does not mean that we will never feel it. Freedom from fear means to correctly assess our fears and to act in spite of our fear for a higher cause. And we have the confidence that God will hold our hands and guide us and make us strong in acting in spite of our fears. Let our constant mantra be: I TRUST IN GOD; I SHALL NOT FEAR.

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

Gospel: Mk 3:1-6
Again, Jesus entered the synagogue. A man, who had a paralyzed hand, was there; and some people watched Jesus: would he heal the man on the Sabbath? If he did, they could accuse him.
Jesus said to the man with the paralyzed hand, “Stand here, in the center.” Then he asked them, “What does the law allow us to do on the Sabbath? To do good or to do harm? To save a life or to kill?” But they were silent.

Then Jesus looked around at them with anger and deep sadness at their hardness of heart. And he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was healed. As soon as the Pharisees left, they met with Herod’s supporters, looking for a way to destroy Jesus.

Reflections
JESUS LOOKED WITH DEEP SADNESS AND ANGER AT THEIR HARDNESS OF HEART
In many situations in the Gospel one can sense Jesus’ frustration with his disciples and listeners because they cannot seem to grasp what he is trying to show them. But with the Scribes and Pharisees, it is more than frustration which Jesus felt but “deep sadness“ and even anger because of their “hardness of heart.” With the disciples it is more lack of understanding but not outright hardness of heart. In this incident it is clear that the Scribes and Pharisees did not care for the wellness of people but more for strict adherence to their rules. It is this same compassion which urged Pope Francis to say in one of his audiences: “The task of the Church is not to make moral and dogmatic pronouncements but to heal and warm the hearts of people.” What a beautiful way of explaining the real meaning of the Gospel. Loving God, melt our hearts that we may truly be one with the sufferings and misery of people around us. Give us the grace and the opportunity to heal their wounds and to warm their hearts.

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