Daily Reflection | Gospel Reading | RVA

21st SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
 Psalter: Week 4 / (Green)

Ps 138:1-2, 2-3, 6, 8
Lord, your love is eternal; do not forsake the work of your hands.

1^st Reading: Is 22:19-23

You will be deposed, strongman. I will hurl you down from where you are.

On that day I will summon my servant Eliakim, son of Hilkiah.

I will clothe him with your robe, I will strengthen him with your girdle, I will give him your authority, and he will be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the people of Judah.

Upon his shoulder I will place the key of the house of David: what he opens, no one shall shut; what he shuts, no one shall open.

I will fasten him like a peg in a sure spot, and he will be a seat of honor in the house of his father.

2^nd Reading: Rom 11:33-36

How deep are the riches, the wisdom and knowledge of God! His decisions cannot be explained, nor his ways understood! Who has ever known God’s thoughts? Who has ever been his adviser? Who has given him something first, so that God had to repay him? For everything comes from him, has been made by him and has to return to him. To him be the glory for ever! Amen.

Gospel: Mt 16:13-20

After that, Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi. He asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They said, “For some of them, you are John the Baptist; for others Elijah, or Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”

Jesus asked them, “But you, who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “It is well for you, Simon Barjona, for it is not flesh or blood that has revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.

And now I say to you: You are Peter; and on this Rock I will build my Church; and never will the powers of death overcome it.

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you unbind on earth shall be unbound in heaven.”

Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

REFLECTION:

Read: Inscrutable are the ways of God and His wisdom. Yahweh reveals His plan to depose Shebna, a major officer in the court, and install Eliakim in his place. At Caesarea Philippi, Peter makes the profession of faith and Christ deposits the keys of the Kingdom with Peter.

Reflect: What made God choose Eliakim to own the keys of David? What made Christ choose Peter to own the keys of the Kingdom? Neither of them was a perfect human being. But God chooses not according to human merits, but by God’s own wisdom that is beyond human understanding. If God has called us to do some task, let us humbly realize that it is not out of our merit, but of His own that He has chosen us. All praise, glory, honor, and worship to Him alone.

Pray: Let us pray for a humble and willing heart to accept God’s call.

Act: Role-play Peter. How would you respond to the assignment from Jesus?

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

20th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
 Psalter: Week 3 / (Green/White)
Memorial of Blessed Virgin Mary

Ps 128:1b-2, 3, 4, 5
See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.

1^st Reading: Ru 2:1-3, 8-11; 4:13-17

Naomi had a well-to-do kinsman, Boaz, from the clan of her husband Elimelech. And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to pick up the left-over grain in the field whose owner will allow me that favor.” Naomi said, “Go ahead, my daughter.” So she went to glean in the fields behind the harvesters. It happened that, the field she entered belonged to Boaz of the clan of Elimelech. Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Don’t go away from here to glean in anyone else’s field. Stay here with my women servants. See where the harvesters are and follow behind. I have ordered the men not to molest you. They have filled some jars with water. Go there and drink when you are thirsty.” Bowing down with her face to the ground, she exclaimed, “Why have I, a foreigner, found such favor in your eyes?” Boaz answered, “I have been told all about you—what you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband’s death, how you have gone with her, leaving your own father and mother and homeland, to live with a people you knew nothing about before you came here.

So Ruth was taken by Boaz and became his wife. Yahweh made her conceive and give birth to a son. The women said to Naomi, “Blessed be Yahweh who has provided you today with an heir. May he become famous in Israel! He will be your comfort and stay in your old age, for he is born of a daughter-in-law who loves you and is worth more than seven sons.”

Naomi took the child as her own and became his nurse. And the women of the neighborhood gave him his name, saying, “A son has been born for Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, who was David’s father.

Gospel: Mt 23:1-12

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,

“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees have sat down on the chair of Moses. So you shall do and observe all they say; but do not do as they do, for they do not do what they say. They tie up heavy burdens and load them on the shoulders of the people, but they do not even lift a finger to move them. They do everything in order to be seen by people: they wear very wide bands of the law around their foreheads, and robes with large tassels. They enjoy the first places at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues, and they like being greeted in the marketplace, and being called ‘Master’ by the people.

But you, do not let yourselves be called Master, because you have only one Master, and all of you are brothers and sisters. Neither should you call anyone on earth Father, because you have only one Father, he who is in heaven. Nor should you be called Leader, because Christ is the only Leader for you. Let the greatest among you be the servant of all. For whoever makes himself great shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be made great.

REFLECTION:

Jesus’ concept of greatness is a direct contradiction to the contemporary worldview which measures greatness in terms of riches, power, prestige and position. For the Lord, greatness is to be measured in terms of service, i.e., not how many serve you but how many do you serve. It is always possible to work for the Church and for God without being a servant. In fact, there are times when Church workers do their jobs grudgingly or go about their ministries for the wrong motives, such as self-promotion.

In the gospel, Jesus exhorts the disciples and the crowds not to follow the bad example of the Scribes and Pharisees who desire prominence. The invitation is to follow the example of Jesus the Servant. To follow his example is to have the heart and mind of a servant. Without the heart and mind of a servant, it is easy for a Christian to succumb to the temptation to misuse or abuse his or her position, talents, skills, education for personal gain. A servant like Jesus exhibits humility, availability, flexibility, spontaneity and punctuality. He performs his tasks with dedication and devotion, be it great or small. A servant with the heart and mind like Jesus is faithful to his commitment. He can be relied upon to bring to completion whatever mission entrusted to him. A real servant like Jesus maintains a low profile. He does not promote or call attention to himself or to his achievements. He is not a celebrity and does not seek approval or applause of others. He is content with quietly serving in the shadows.

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

20th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
 Psalter: Week 3 / (Green/White)
St. Louis of France, king
St. Joseph Calasanz, priest

Ps 146:5-6ab, 6c-7, 8-9a, 9bc-10
Praise the Lord, my soul!

1^st Reading: Ru 1:1, 3-6, 14b-16, 22

There was a famine in the land during the time of the Judges, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah departed with his wife and two sons, to sojourn in the country of Moab.

Naomi’s husband Elimelech died. She was left with her two sons, who married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth.

After living in Moab for about ten years, Mahlon and Chilion also died; and Naomi was left bereft of husband and two sons. Having heard that Yahweh had come to help his people by giving them food, Naomi prepared to return home.

Again they sobbed and wept. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her. Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law returns to her people and her gods. You too, must return. Go after her.”

Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you. For I will go where you go and stay where you stay. Your people will be my people and your god, my God.

Thus it was that Naomi returned from Moab with her Moabite daughter-in-law and arrived in Bethlehem as the barley harvest began.

Gospel: Mt 22:34-40

When the Pharisees heard how Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they assembled together. One of them, a lawyer, questioned him to test him, “Teacher, which commandment of the law is the greatest?”

Jesus answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and the most important of the commandments. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets are founded on these two commandments.”

REFLECTION:

Jesus’ response to the lawyer’s question ordered the commandment to love God and to love the neighbor as two sides of the same coin. They are inseparable. It is not possible to love God without loving the neighbor. Love, therefore is the foundation of the Christian life. It is the heart, the core of all the commandments. Saint John in his epistle tells us that “God is love and he who lives in love lives in God, and God lives in him.” The more we love, the more we become like God. When we love truly, unconditionally and unceasingly, the image of God in us increasingly becomes clear.

Ruth in the First Reading, exemplifies the kind of love we are expected to show our fellow human beings. Love of neighbor will validate and complete, as it were, our love for God. What makes her story remarkably interesting and extraordinary is the fact that genuine love and care can come from the most unexpected persons. Ruth was a pagan and after the death of her husband who was unable to give her an offspring, had all the right to leave her mother-in-law’s house and perhaps marry again. But love gave her the power to rise above the typical animosity between a mother-in-law and a daughter-in-law. She readily abandoned her own people and her god so that she can be with Naomi, her mother-in-law, and worship the One True God.

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 ST. BARTHOLOMEW, APOSTLE
 Psalter: Proper / (Red)

Ps 145:10-11, 12-13, 17-18
Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.

1^st Reading: Rev 21:9b-14

Then, one of the seven angels came to me, one of those with the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues. And he said, “Come, I am going to show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” He took me up, in a spiritual vision, to a very high mountain, and he showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven, from God. It shines with the glory of God, like a precious jewel, with the color of crystal-clear jasper.

Its wall, large and high, has twelve gates; stationed at them are twelve angels. Over the gates are written the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. Three gates face the east; three gates face the north; three gates face the south and three face the west. The city wall stands on twelve foundation stones, on which are written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

Gospel: Jn 1:45-51

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets: he is Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”

Nathanael replied, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” When Jesus saw Nathanael coming, he said of him, “Here comes an Israelite, a true one; there is nothing false in him.” Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?” And Jesus said to him, “Before Philip called you, you were under the fig tree, and I saw you.”

Nathanael answered, “Master, you are the Son of God! You are the king of Israel!” But Jesus replied, “You believe because I said, ‘I saw you under the fig tree.’ But you will see greater things than that.

"Truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

REFLECTION:

Today’s feast honors St. Bartholomew, one of the Twelve, otherwise known as Nathanael. He might be considered rather skeptical about the possibility of the Messiah coming from a lowly place called Nazareth. Jesus saw in him sincerity and genuineness. Hence the compliment: “This man is a real Israelite. There is no guile in him.” That the Lord knew him even before they encountered each other came as a surprise to Nathanael. Truly the Lord sees us and knows us more than we know ourselves. The saints such as Augustine affirm this insight. The beautiful thing is that in spite of his awareness of our weaknesses and sins the Lord takes the risk in calling us to participate in his mission. He is more interested in our potential for holiness.

An important quality or trait that the Lord looks for in his disciples is genuineness or honesty. Duplicity or hypocrisy contradicts the identity of the disciple and undermines his ministry. What is expected of a Christian disciple is integrity. The fruitfulness of his or her ministry rises and falls with this.

Vibrant faith, as the one displayed by Nathanael, is an indispensable element of discipleship. It is this faith that will allow us to see “much greater things.” Faith gives us a special and powerful vision that enables us to see beyond the physical and material. It will enable us to see “the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

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