Daily Reflection

June 8, 2017 Thursday

9TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Psalter: Week 4 / (Green)

Ps 123:1-2, 3, 4-5
Blessed are those who fear the Lord.

1^st Reading: Tb 6:10-11; 7:1bcde, 9-17; 8:4-9a

When they had entered Media and were already approaching Ecbatana, Raphael said to Tobias, “Friend, we shall spend the night at the house of Ragouel. He is a relative of yours. He has no son, just an only daughter called Sara.

When they arrived in Ecbatana Tobias said to Raphael, “Friend Azarias, take me straightaway to our friend Ragouel.” So Raphael led Tobias to Ragouel’s house and they found Ragouel sitting by the door of the courtyard.

They killed a sheep and served them numerous dishes.

After they had bathed and washed, as they were relaxing before the meal, Tobias said to Raphael, “Friend Azarias, tell Ragouel to give me Sara my kinswoman. Talk about what you were saying during our journey, that the matter may come about and be accomplished.” Ragouel overheard the conversation and he said to Tobias, “Eat, drink and be merry tonight. You are the man who has most right to take Sara my daughter because you are my kinsman. Indeed it is impossible for me to give her to any other man but you, because you are my closest relative. But, my son, I must tell you the whole story. I gave her to seven husbands from among our kinsmen. They each died on the wedding night. But, for the moment, my son, eat and drink and the Lord will arrange things for you.”

Tobias said, “I shall eat nothing if you do not stop now and bring this matter to a conclusion.” Ragouel said to Tobias, “Take her from now on; I give her to you according to the law of Moses and you have to understand that God himself gives her to you. Receive your kinswoman, from now on you are her brother and she is your sister. She is yours from today and forever. Now God will bless you this night and may he give you both his mercy and peace.”

He called his daughter Sara and taking her by the hand, he gave her to Tobias as his wife. He said, “According to Moses’ law, take her now and bring her to your father’s house.” And he blessed them. Ragouel then called Edna his wife; taking a sheet of parchment, he wrote down a matrimonial contract and they both affixed their seals. Then they all began to eat. Ragouel called his wife and said to her “My sister, prepare the other room and take Sara there.” Edna did as Ragouel told her and she took Sara to this room and Sara began to cry. Edna dried her daughter’s tears and said, “Have courage, my child, the God of heaven and earth will change your sorrow into joy. Have confidence, my daughter!” Then she left.

When Sara’s parents had left the room and closed the door, Tobias got up from the bed and said to Sara, “Get up, my sister, and let us ask the Lord to have mercy on us and save us.” She got up and they began to pray, asking that they be given life. Tobias began like this, “May you be blessed, O Lord God of our fathers, and may your holy and glorious name be blessed forever. May the heavens and all creatures bless you. You created Adam and you gave him Eve, his wife, as a helper and companion, so that from these two the human race might be born.

You said: ‘It is not good that man should be alone, let us give him a companion who is like himself.’ Now, Lord, I take my sister to myself in sincerity and love, not merely seeking pleasure. Have mercy on us and grant us a long life together.” Together they said, “Amen,” and returned to bed for the night.

Ragouel got up early and called his servants and told them to dig a grave.

Gospel: Mk 12:28-34

A teacher of the law had been listening to this discussion and admired how Jesus answered them. So he came up and asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?”

Jesus answered, “The first is: Hear, Israel! The Lord, our God, is One Lord; and you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. And after this comes a second commandment: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these two.”

The teacher of the law said to him, “Well spoken, Master; you are right when you say that he is one, and there is no other besides him. To love him with all our heart, with all our understanding and with all our strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves is more important than any burnt offering or sacrifice.”

Jesus approved this answer and said, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.

REFLECTION:

One thing good about laws is that they make life neat. For those who doesn’t want the hassles of discovering by trial and error what is right and just, spelled out laws that govern once conduct is welcome indeed. Just like the teacher of the law of our gospel today who validates with Jesus what right living is, with reference to the law of course. And Jesus did not disappoint. He met him where he is at that moment. Jesus quoted from their holy book what a just man is supposed to do. But being an expert of the Torah himself, the teacher of the law desired to have more. There is a glimmer of insight in his eyes that is beginning to radiate in all his being. It was his elaboration and personal appropriation of the law that made him close to the kingdom of God.

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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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Readings and Reflections
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June 7, 2017 Wednesday

9TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Psalter: Week 4 / (Green)

Ps 25:2-3, 4-5ab, 6 & 7bc, 8-9
To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.

1^st Reading: Tb 3:1-11a, 16-17a

Distressed, I wept and prayed and expressing my sorrow, I said, “You are just, O Lord; all your actions and all your ways are merciful and just; your judgments are always true and just. Remember me, Lord, and look on me. Do not punish me for my sins nor for the wrongs I have committed through ignorance. Pardon the sins which my fathers have committed in your sight, for they disobeyed your commandments. You have allowed us to suffer pillage, captivity and death. You have allowed us to be mocked by all the pagan nations among whom we have been dispersed. Ah well! All your judgments are just when you choose to punish me for my sins and those of my fathers, because we have not accomplished your will, nor have we sincerely obeyed your commands. We have not walked before you in truth.

Do with me as you will. Order my life taken from me, and turn me into dust, because I prefer death to life. In this way free me and let me return to dust. It is better for me to die than to live, because these unjust reproaches have caused me great distress. Command that I be now released from trials, and let me enter my eternal dwelling place. Do not turn your face away from me.”

That same day, at Ecbatana in Media, Sara, the daughter of Ragouel, was insulted in a similar way by her father’s young maidservants. Sara had had seven husbands, but the demon Asmodeus had killed each one of them before the marriage had been consummated. The maidservants said, “It was you who killed your husbands. You have had seven husbands and you have not enjoyed marital relationship with any of them. Why do you punish us? Since they are dead, go and join them. May we never see a son or daughter of yours!”

That same day Sara was so distressed in mind that she went to the upper room in her father’s house. She wished to hang herself. But she thought better of it and said: “If people ever reproached my father and said to him: ‘You had an only daughter whom you cherished and she hanged herself because she was unhappy,’ I would cause my father in his old age to die of grief. It is better for me not to hang myself but to ask the Lord that I may die and not live to hear any more insults.”

At that moment she stretched forth her hands towards the window and prayed, saying, “You are blessed, O Lord my God, and blessed is your holy and glorious name throughout the ages. May all your works praise you forever.

The Lord in his glory heard the prayer of Tobit and of Sara and he sent Raphael to heal them both—to give back his sight to Tobit and to give Sara, the daughter of Ragouel, to Tobit’s son Tobias, as his wife. Also, Raphael would enchain the wicked demon Asmodeus so that Sara would be the wife of Tobias, because she belonged to Tobias by right of inheritance.

At the same time Tobit, who had gone for a short walk, returned to the house; and Sara, the daughter of Ragouel, came down from the upper room.

Gospel: Mk 12:18-27

The Sadducees also came to Jesus. Since they claim that there is no resurrection, they questioned him in this way, “Master, in the Scriptures Moses gave us this law: If anyone dies and leaves a wife but no children, his brother must take the woman, and, with her, have a baby, who will be considered the child of his deceased brother. Now, there were seven brothers. The first married a wife, but he died without leaving any children. The second took the wife, and he also died, leaving no children. The same thing happened to the third. In fact, all seven brothers died, leaving no children. Last of all, the woman died. Now, in the resurrection, to which of them will she be wife? For all seven brothers had her as wife.”

Jesus replied, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God? When they rise from the dead, men and women do not marry, but are like the angels in heaven.

Now, about the resurrection of the dead, have you never had thoughts about the burning bush in the book of Moses? God said to Moses: I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He is the God, not of the dead, but of the living. You are totally wrong.”

REFLECTION:

The realities of the life to come are vastly different from that of the present age. That is why no one can talk about it better than He who is the author of such life. No wonder the opponents of Jesus have it all wrong. They judge the future with their present observation and experience. Even in the religious sphere, it is not the Word of God which is the norm but their own way of seeing things and their own judgment of them. And so, no consensus could either be achieved. Jesus brings the truth of heaven here on earth. But the people of the earth were adamant to hold on to their earthly truth.

It takes a humble heart to learn from others. It might be difficult to let go of the things we hold dear but the secret of being renewed is when we render ourselves obsolete every day. There is always a new possibility. Truth come to us with freshness and new ways of seeing it every day. We need not close ourselves to only one of the many. We can also enrich our understanding by considering new information revealed along the way. Thus our appreciation of the truth progresses and grows deeper in time.

Daily Reflection

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

June 6, 2017 Tuesday

9TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Psalter: Week 4 / (Green/White)
St. Norbert, bishop

Ps 112:1-2, 7-8, 9
The heart of the just one is firm, trusting in the Lord.

1^st Reading: Tb 2:9-14

That same night, after I had buried the body, I returned home. I washed myself and went out into the courtyard to sleep against the wall; my face was uncovered because of the heat. I did not see that there were sparrows on the wall of the courtyard and, as my eyes were open, the hot droppings from the sparrows fell into my eyes and formed a white film on my eyes. I went to find doctors to attend to me for medical treatment but the more ointments they smeared on my eyes, the more blind I became because of the film. Finally I became totally blind. I suffered from blindness for four years. All my brothers were burdened because of me. Ahikar kept me for two years before he departed for Elymias.

My wife Anna worked hard at a woman’s task, weaving. On the seventh day of the month of Dystrus she cut the cloth and delivered it to her employers. They paid her wages and gave her, over and above, a young goat for food. When she returned home the kid began to cry. I said to her, “Where does the little kid come from? Did you steal it? Return it to its owners for we are not allowed to eat anything that is stolen.”

But she said, “It is a gift which has been given to me in addition to my wages.” “I don’t believe it. I tell you to return it to its owners.” I was ashamed of her.

She replied, “What about your own alms giving and your good deeds? I have to put up with all this from you.”

Gospel: Mk 12:13-17

They sent to Jesus some Pharisees with members of Herod’s party, with the purpose of trapping him by his own words. They came and said to Jesus, “Master, we know that you are truthful; you are not influenced by anyone, and your answers do not vary according to who is listening to you, but you truly teach God’s way. Tell us, is it against the law to pay taxes to Caesar? Should we pay them or not?”

But Jesus saw through their trick and answered, “Why are you testing me? Bring me a silver coin and let me see it.” They brought him one and Jesus asked, “Whose image is this, and whose name?” They answered, “Caesar’s.” Then Jesus said, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God, what is God’s.”

And they were greatly astonished.

REFLECTION:

An enemy that knows how to flatter is deadly dangerous. You do not know when they will spring their trap while honey drips from their lips. You are lulled to complacency. You let your guards down. Jesus had His share of encounter with those whose lips lie at the same time that their hands ready to strike. He is not caught off guard. He does not need human affirmation. Doing His Father’s work was enough for Him. That is why He was not duped by the sweet words of the Pharisees and some of Herod’s party. He met their trap head on.

All of us are called to such astuteness in front of the enemy. We are called to love but not to lose our good sense. Jesus seeing through their tricks showed them a great lesson that day. Obeying human laws that upholds order in society is not inimical to one’s relationship with God. Caesar is worthy to receive what is his. Just see to it that what is God’s is for God alone.

Daily Reflection

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

June 5, 2017 Monday

9TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Psalter: Week 2 / (Green)

Psalter: Week 4 / (Red)
St. Boniface, bishop & martyr

1^st Reading: Tb 1:3; 2:1a-8

I, Tobit, have walked in the ways of truth and justice all the days of my life; I have given many alms to my brethren and to those of my countrymen who were deported with me to Nineveh, a city in the country of the Assyrians.

When I returned to my house, my wife Anna and my son Tobias were given back to me. At the feast of Pentecost, the sacred feast of the Seven Weeks, they prepared a good meal for me and I sat down to eat. I saw the many dishes and said to my son: “Go and bring as many as you can find of our relatives who are in need and who remember the Lord. I will wait here for them.” When Tobias returned, he said: “Father, one of ours has been strangled and thrown into the public square.” Before I ate anything I hurried out and carried this man into the house and waited till sunset to bury him. When I returned home I washed myself and ate my food in sorrow. I remembered the prophecy which Amos uttered against Bethel: “Your feasts will be turned into mourning. All your songs will be turned into lamentations,” and I wept.

After sunset I went out and, after I had dug a trench, I buried the man. My neighbors mocked me, saying: “He no longer fears to be put to death for doing that; he had to flee but look he is again burying the dead.”

Gospel: Mk 12:1-12

Using parables, Jesus went on to say, “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a hole for the wine press and built a watch tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenants and went abroad.

In due time, he sent a servant to receive from the tenants the fruit of the vineyard. But they seized the servant, struck him and sent him back empty-handed. Again, the man sent another servant. They also struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. He sent another, and they killed him. In the same way they treated many others: some they beat up and others they killed. One was still left, his beloved son. And so, last of all, he sent him to the tenants, for he said, ‘They will respect my son.’

But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the one who is to inherit the vineyard. Let’s kill him and the property will be ours.’ So they seized him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. Now, what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.”

And Jesus added, “Have you not read this text of the Scriptures: The stone which the builders rejected has become the keystone; this is the Lord’s doing, and we marvel at it?”

They wanted to arrest him, for they realized that Jesus meant this parable for them, but they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away.

REFLECTION:

We have a wonderful God. He exerted all efforts to create a world where we can truly maximize our potentials. If the world is a vineyard, it has everything to keep it functioning at its best. And this is for our advantage. But how did we respond to God’s generosity? We took advantage of this world. We are ingrates who even plotted to take away from God the ownership of this world. And so we suffer so much now because of this. We are in an unprecedented time when we have the capacity to destroy the whole of creation. If we will not modify our greed, the very thing that we crave for will be taken away from us.

Daily Reflection

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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