Daily Reflection | Gospel Reading | RVA

6TH DAY IN THE OCTAVE OF CHRISTMAS
Psalter: Week 4 / (White)
 
Ps 96:7-8a, 8b-9, 10
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice!

1^st Reading: 1 Jn 2:12-17

My dear children, I write this to you: you have already received the forgiveness of your sins, through the name of Jesus. Fathers, I write this to you: you know him, who is from the beginning. Young men, I write this to you: you have overcome the evil one. My dear children, I write to you, because you already know the Father.

Fathers, I write to you, because you know him, who is from the beginning. Young men, I write to you, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, who have, indeed, overcome the evil one.

Do not love the world, or what is in it. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

For everything in the world—the craving of the flesh, the greed of eyes and people boasting of their superio­rity—all this, belongs to the world, not to the Father.

The world passes away, with all its craving, but those who do the will of God remain for ever.

Gospel: Lk 2:36-40

There was also a prophetess named Anna, daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. After leaving her father‘s home, she had been seven years with her husband; and since then, she had been continually about the temple, serving God, as a widow, night and day, in fasting and prayer. She was now eighty-four. Coming up at that time, she gave praise to God, and spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.

 When the parents had fulfilled all that was required by the law of the Lord, they returned to their town, Nazareth in Galilee. There, the child grew in stature and strength, and was filled with wisdom: the grace of God was upon him.

REFLECTION:

The call to holiness is not only for old people but for everybody, young and old alike. Children are called to be holy just as their parents are.

Prophetess Anna serves as the model for old people to live holy lives. She had been continually about the temple, serving God, as a widow, night and day, in fasting and prayer. The child Jesus also serves as the model for children to follow. Like Jesus, children should also grow not only in stature and strength but in wisdom and in grace of God.

St. John, in the first reading, warns us about a big obstacle to holiness. He warns us not to love the word, or what is in it. For everything in the world-the craving of the flesh, the greed of eyes and people boasting of their superiority-all this belongs to the world, not the Father. For him, to be holy means to do the will of the Father and remain in Him.

Let us be holy by doing the will of God and by remaining in Him through prayers and through service.

Daily Reflection

Daily Gospel ® is a product 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

 

DAILY GOSPEL ® 2017
Readings and Reflections
Copyright © 2O16
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

5TH DAY IN THE OCTAVE OF CHRISTMAS
Psalter: Week 4 / (White/Red)
St. Thomas Becket, bishop & martyr
 
Ps 96:1-2a, 2b-3, 5b-6
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice!

1^st Reading: 1 Jn 2:3-11

How can we know that we know him? If we fulfill his commands.

If you say, “I know him,” but do not fulfill his commands, you are a liar and the truth is not in you. But if you keep his word, God’s love is made complete in you. This is how we know that we are in him: he who claims to live in him, must live as he lived.

My dear friends, I am not writing you a new commandment, but reminding you of an old one, one you had from the beginning. This old commandment is the word you have heard.

But, in a way, I give it as a new commandment, that is true in him, and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light already shines.

If you claim to be in the light, but hate your brother, you are still in darkness.

If you love your brothers and sisters, you remain in the light, and nothing in you will make you fall. But if you hate your brother, you are in the dark, and walk in darkness, without knowing where you go, for the darkness has blinded you.

Gospel: Lk 2:22-35

When the day came for the purification according to the law of Moses, they brought the baby up to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord: Every first born male shall be consecrated to God. And they offered a sacrifice, as ordered in the law of the Lord: a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.

There lived in Jerusalem, at this time, a very upright and devout man named Simeon; the Holy Spirit was in him. He looked forward to the time when the Lord would comfort Israel; and he had been assured, by the Holy Spirit, that he would not die before seeing the Messiah of the Lord. So, he was led into the temple by the Holy Spirit at the time the parents brought the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law.

Simeon took the child in his arms, and blessed God, saying,

“Now, O Lord, you can dismiss your servant in peace, for you have fulfilled your word and my eyes have seen your salvation, which you display for all the people to see.

Here is the light you will reveal to the nations, and the glory of your people Israel.“

His father and mother wondered at what was said about the child. Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother, “Know this: your son is a sign; a sign established for the falling and rising of many in Israel, a sign of contradiction; and a sword will pierce your own soul, so that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed.“

REFLECTION:

The purpose of presentation is to fulfill what is commanded by the Lord: “Every first born male shall be consecrated to God.“ The idea is to recognize the couple‘s giftedness. God has given them a gift of a son and it is but fitting that the “son-gift“ should be presented to God in thanksgiving and be offered back to be consecrated to God.

Jesus is God‘s gift not only to Mary and Joseph but to humanity. As a gift he was presented by his parents in thanksgiving and for consecration. His presentation prefigures what is to take place during the last supper and on the cross. The Jesus who was offered during the presentation is the same Jesus who was offered on the cross for our salvation. He is the same Jesus who is the offeror and the one being offered every time the Eucharist is celebrated. For this, Jesus is truly a gift to humanity!

Our life is God‘s gift to us, to our family and to the community. Like Jesus, we were also presented and consecrated to God in baptism. As Jesus lived up his consecration until the end of his earthly life, we must also show in our daily life our baptismal consecration by being gifts to God and to another.

Daily Reflection

Daily Gospel ® is a product 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

 

DAILY GOSPEL ® 2017
Readings and Reflections
Copyright © 2O16
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

FEAST OF THE HOLY INNOCENTS, MARTYRS
Psalter: Proper / (Red)

Ps 124:2-3, 4-5, 7b-8
Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler‘s snare.

1^st Reading: 1 Jn 1:5–2:2

We heard his message, from him, and announce it to you: God is light and there is no darkness in him.

 If we say we are in fellowship with him, while we walk in darkness, we lie, instead of being in truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we are in fellowship with one another; and the blood of Jesus, the Son of God, purifies us from all sin.

If we say, “We have no sin,“ we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he, who is faithful and just, will forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all wickedness.

 If we say that we do not sin, we make God a liar, his word is not in us.

My little children, I write to you, that you may not sin. But if anyone sins, we have an intercessor with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Just One.

He is the sacrificial victim, for our sins, and the sins of the whole world.

Gospel: Mt 2:13-18

After the wise men had left, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will soon be looking for the child in order to kill him.“

Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and left that night for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. In this way, what the Lord had said through the prophet was fulfilled: I called my son out of Egypt.

When Herod found out that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was furious. He gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its neighborhood who were two years old or under. This was done, according to what he had learned from the wise men about the time when the star appeared.

In this way, what the prophet Jeremiah had said was fulfilled: A cry is heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation: Rachel weeps for her children. She refuses to be comforted, for they are no more.

REFLECTION:

Lauren Hansen of The Week featured stories of 9 heroic teens and their incredible acts of bravery. The stories speak that children, even at their very young age, are capable of heroic deeds. This truth is not something new. More than 2,000 years ago, the Holy Innocents had already proven this.

St. Quodvultdeus explained this when he said: “They cannot speak, yet they bear witness to Christ. They cannot use their limbs to engage in battle, yet already they bear off the palm of victory.“ By their death they have proclaimed they could not preach with their infant voice. They gave witness not by words but their life‘s blood.

The Holy Innocents offered praise to Christ by the death they suffered for him. Let us learn from them. May our lives also bear witness to the faith we profess with our lips.

Daily Reflection

Daily Gospel ® is a product 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

 

DAILY GOSPEL ® 2017
Readings and Reflections
Copyright © 2O16
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

ST. JOHN, APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST
Psalter: Proper / (White)

Ps 97:1-2, 5-6, 11-12
Rejoice in the Lord, you just!

1^st Reading: 1 Jn 1:1-4

This is what has been, from the beginning, and what we have heard, and have seen with our own eyes, what we have looked at, and touched with our hands, I mean the Word who is Life.

The Life made itself known. We have seen Eternal Life and we bear witness; and we are telling you of it. It was with the Father and made himself known to us.

So, we tell you, what we have seen and heard, that you may be in fellowship with us, and us, with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

And we write this, that our joy may be complete.

Gospel: Jn 20:1a & 2-8

Now, on the first day after the Sabbath, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning while it was still dark, and she saw that the stone blocking the tomb had been moved away.

She ran to Peter, and the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and she said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we don‘t know where they have laid him.“

Peter then set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. They ran together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down and saw the linen cloths lying flat, but he did not enter.

Then Simon Peter came, following him, and entered the tomb; he, too, saw the linen cloths lying flat. The napkin, which had been around his head, was not lying flat like the other linen cloths, but lay rolled up in its place. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in; he saw and believed.

REFLECTION:

Among the many descriptions and titles of St. John (he is also called the Apostle, the Evangelist, the Theologian, the Divine, the Son of Zebedee, and the brother of James), what stands most is the description he gave to himself: “the disciple whom Jesus loved.“ He is the Beloved Disciple and this is what matters most to him.

We may have obtained many titles because of our accomplishments and achievements, but if we don‘t have the love of Christ in us, we are nothing. We may have gained everything in this world-riches, fame and influence-but if we don‘t have personal relationship with Christ, that‘s nothing.

St Paul articulated this more emphatically: “If I speak with human tongues and angelic as well, but do not have love I am a noisy gang, a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and, with full knowledge, comprehend all mysteries, if I have faith great enough to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give everything I have to feed the poor and hand over my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.“

How about you? What is more important to you?

Daily Reflection

Daily Gospel ® is a product 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

 

DAILY GOSPEL ® 2017
Readings and Reflections
Copyright © 2O16
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