Daily Reflection | Gospel Reading | RVA

THE WORD

1 Sm 18,6-9;19,1-7 / Mk 3,7-12

Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples. A large number of people (followed) from Galilee and from Judea. Hearing what he was doing, a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him. He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him. And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him and shout, “You are the Son of God.” He warned them sternly not to make him known.

IN OTHER WORDS

There are those of us who aspire for fame and dream of becoming a celebrity. But there are also those who do not pursue the said dream because they perceive its great dangers. They could lose their lives, suffer possible ill repercussions of fame (e.g. falling into drugs, too much spending, vices), be the object of other people’s envy, run in con ict with other famous people, lead a lonely life caused by little time spent with family/loved ones, become a prey to stalkers, scared that “people use you”, lose people’s respect and support when life is messed up.

Jesus chose not to live like a celebrity. People wanted to make him a king, but he totally rejected their plan. However, his ardent desire to proclaim and make the Kingdom of God tangible soon made him known among peoples of diff erent places. Crowds looked for him and sought to listen to him. The sick and those suff ering from various illnesses wanted to touch him and be healed by him. They saw his miracles and they would ask for more. They witnessed what he was capable of doing and they would not let him go. They would love to possess him and not allow him to go to other places.

In the gospel reading today, Jesus fulfills his ministry by setting certain limits so that “they (people) would not crush him.” He asked his disciples to have a boat ready for him. Jesus was aware of the dangers of his growing mission. He knew he had to take precautions while undertaking bold risks in serving the people. To those he healed he gave the stern warning not to make him known.

Clearly and consistently, Jesus did not seek fame but delity to his mission. He felt the urgency to bring the Good News of the Kingdom to the peripheries of society where the famous of this world would not really like to go. He rejected the path of worldly fame that would only curtail his freedom to bring the reign of God to all people, and not to a privileged few.

In our life and ministry as disciples of Jesus, sometimes we become known because of the good things that we do unto others. How do we manage our popularity? Do we end up systematically enlarging our public image to a considerable degree, or do we set limits to ourselves and to people so as to be faithful to our mission and to make the Lord the center of people’s lives?

• Fr. Edwin Fernandez, SVD | DWC, Laoag

The Word in other words 2016

An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.

	Production : Fr. Carlos Maria de Guzman, Jr., SVD and Staff of Logos Publications
	Cover Design : Malou E. Domingo
	Liturgical Calendar : Fr. Atilano Corcuera, SVD
	Production Consultant : Fr. Gerardo del Pinado, SVD
	Scriptural Texts : New American Bible and Daily Roman Missal
	Cover artwork based on photos by Fr. Bar Fabella, SVD
	Published by : Logos Publications, Inc. 1916 Oroquieta St., Sta. Cruz, Manila
	Email Address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
	Telephone : +63 2 711 1323
	Fax : +63 2 732 273
	Copyright © 2015 Society of the Divine Word

 

THE WORD

1 Sm 17,32-3 3.37.40-51 /Mk 3,1-6

Again Jesus entered the synagogue. There was a man there who had a withered hand. They watched him closely to see if he would cure him on the sabbath so that they might accuse him. He said to the man with the withered hand, “Come up here before us.”

Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” But they remained silent. Looking around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him to put him to death

IN OTHER WORDS

On January 24-31, the 51st International Eucharistic Congress is coming to Cebu! The Philippines hosted this event back in 1937 when Ricardo Cardinal Vidal was still a young kid preparing himself for his first communion. What a joy to have it held in our shores again after 79 years! The theme song “Christ in Us, Our Hope of Glory” beautifully captures the desires of our hearts to be Eucharistic persons – “We felt your word burning within us. Your word unlocked the hardness of our hearts, and opened our eyes that we may see You hidden in the broken bread.”

This song shows us a picture of holy communion, when we “stretch out our hands” to receive the Body and Blood of Christ. In the same way, our gospel today shows us a person with a withered hand also stretching out to the Savior. Interestingly, when the Bible is referring to ‘your hand,’ it’s talking about one’s capacity to work and one’s capacity to labor, and do ministry. A withered hand is the exact opposite: it doesn’t function in the gift and calling that God has given.

A life without purpose is a withered life. Not, however, for the saints we celebrate today. They are worth remembering for the ministry they did during their lifetime. Saints Fabian and Sebastian, whose feasts we celebrate today, were martyrs in the early centuries of the Church. Pope Fabian is famous for the miraculous nature of his papal election, in which a dove is said to have descended on his head to mark him as the Holy Spirit’s unexpected choice to become the next pope.

On the other hand, Sebastian was known for his goodness and bravery. During the persecution by Diocletian, Sebastian would not renounce his Christian faith. Archers shot arrows into his body and left him for dead. When the emperor found out that he was still alive, he ordered that Sebastian be immediately clubbed to death.

God has given every person, every believer, a ministry calling. He has given each one a calling to do something, accomplish something. Often our unresolved grief, disappointments, bitterness, offences, unresolved sins, abuses or trauma can wither our mind and even harden our soul. But we should take comfort in the fact that God’s love is limitless. Every time, we stretch out our hand in the holy communion, we are being reminded of Him who laid down His life so that when we eat the bread and drink the cup, He lives in us and He becomes our hope of glory.

• Fr. Felmar Castrodes Fiel, SVD | DYFR-Cebu

The Word in other words 2016

An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.

	Production : Fr. Carlos Maria de Guzman, Jr., SVD and Staff of Logos Publications
	Cover Design : Malou E. Domingo
	Liturgical Calendar : Fr. Atilano Corcuera, SVD
	Production Consultant : Fr. Gerardo del Pinado, SVD
	Scriptural Texts : New American Bible and Daily Roman Missal
	Cover artwork based on photos by Fr. Bar Fabella, SVD
	Published by : Logos Publications, Inc. 1916 Oroquieta St., Sta. Cruz, Manila
	Email Address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
	Telephone : +63 2 711 1323
	Fax : +63 2 732 273
	Copyright © 2015 Society of the Divine Word

 

THE WORD

1Sm 16, 1-13/Mk 2, 23-28

As he was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath, his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain. At this the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry? How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the bread of off ering that only the priests could lawfully eat, and shared it with his companions?” Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

IN OTHER WORDS

Conflicts many times occur in our lives and relationships because of our fanaticism or our incapacity to see the whole situation. They happen because we are unable to put ourselves into the situation of the other. The Pharisees in our gospel today were in conflict with the disciples of Jesus who were working in the field during the Sabbath to satisfy their hunger and need. For them- the Pharisees- the Sabbath was made not for human beings but that human beings were made for the Sabbath. With this belief, they started to criticize, judge, and create conflict with Jesus and his disciples.

How do we overcome conflict from the perspective of the gospel?

Conflicts are overcome by living the truth. The truth on the Sabbath is for all to have a time to praise and honor God and to promote service and life to those who are in need. Living this truth of the Sabbath in this manner helps us to establish harmony in life and good relationships. To resolve conflict then is to search, see and, with humility, believe in the whole truth not only in our own beliefs and convictions. God’s truth goes beyond our own understanding and mindset. Openness, flexibility and willingness to be enriched by the other are necessary for overpowering conflicts.

Second, conflicts are overcome from the perspective of the gospel when, in living the spirit of the Sabbath, our faith in the Lord starts. The law on the Sabbath need not be an end in itself but a point of departure from which one can look for the good of the other and the community. In a word the spirit of the Sabbath invites us to be more tolerant, open, respectful and patient with the needs and weaknesses of our brothers and sisters. Living the true spirit of the Sabbath is making the life of the people in our community as our priority. It is recognizing God’s presence not only by fulfilling His commandments but also by seeing and believing in God’s sanctuary in the hopes, dreams, joys and pains of the people we encounter. It is through this way that conflicts are conquered.

May our faith in the Lord bridge conflicts and built smooth relationships. Pope Francis once said, when faith in the Lord leads us “to think well, feel well and act well” conflicts do not thrive in our community.

Finally conflicts are overcome when mercy, compassion and service are the ends and goals of living the Sabbath. We may have diff erent beliefs and mindsets but such differences enrich and unify when mercy, compassion and unconditional service are lived and extended to the people and the community we live in. Observing the true spirit of the Sabbath creates in us a disposition to focus more on seeing, feeling and acting on the joys and tears of the people around us. Merciful and compassionate attitudes eliminate possible con icts in our relationships with God and others, for the focus is not so much on our belief as on responding to the needs and suff erings of the people we encounter and live with.

• Fr. Robert Ibay, SVD | Divine Word College of Vigan

The Word in other words 2016

An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.

	Production : Fr. Carlos Maria de Guzman, Jr., SVD and Staff of Logos Publications
	Cover Design : Malou E. Domingo
	Liturgical Calendar : Fr. Atilano Corcuera, SVD
	Production Consultant : Fr. Gerardo del Pinado, SVD
	Scriptural Texts : New American Bible and Daily Roman Missal
	Cover artwork based on photos by Fr. Bar Fabella, SVD
	Published by : Logos Publications, Inc. 1916 Oroquieta St., Sta. Cruz, Manila
	Email Address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
	Telephone : +63 2 711 1323
	Fax : +63 2 732 273
	Copyright © 2015 Society of the Divine Word

 

THE WORD

1 Sm 15,16-23 / Mk 2,18-22

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed too fast. People came to him and objected, “Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus answered them “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.

But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.

No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, its fullness pulls away, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse. Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.

IN OTHER WORDS

When Jesus explained why his disciples were not fasting, he was presenting a new understanding of what fasting could mean- as long as he was with them there was no need for fasting. He equated his presence to that of a bridegroom at his wedding feast, an occasion for rejoicing and making full use of his time with them. That special time would end soon and then they would fast. They would plunge into the hard work of spreading the gospel, risking their lives and experiencing rejection at times. The disciples would be doing more than fasting as they face the demands and challenges of being disciples and witnesses of the word.

Together with this view on fasting, Jesus explained also the need for a new mind-set for a new world order. The new wine represents a renewed life that is expected to create a new society, a new environment (wineskin). The new wine is the renewed spirit in the Christian that would impel him to create changes, to make all things new. The old wineskins, old habits and lifestyles that are incompatible with a life of faith, have to be discarded. Likewise, the old wine, the old content of the sinful past, must be removed.

We are then challenged to become new wine and to create new wineskins. The new year is just three weeks old. We have plenty of time to renew, and make new of ourselves and the world we live in.

• Fr. Gil Alejandria, SVD | (CT Manila)

The Word in other words 2016

An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.

	Production : Fr. Carlos Maria de Guzman, Jr., SVD and Staff of Logos Publications
	Cover Design : Malou E. Domingo
	Liturgical Calendar : Fr. Atilano Corcuera, SVD
	Production Consultant : Fr. Gerardo del Pinado, SVD
	Scriptural Texts : New American Bible and Daily Roman Missal
	Cover artwork based on photos by Fr. Bar Fabella, SVD
	Published by : Logos Publications, Inc. 1916 Oroquieta St., Sta. Cruz, Manila
	Email Address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
	Telephone : +63 2 711 1323
	Fax : +63 2 732 273
	Copyright © 2015 Society of the Divine Word