Daily Reflection | Gospel Reading | RVA

15TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Psalter: Week 2 / (White)
St. Mary Magdalene, disciple of the Lord / Memorial of Blessed Virgin Mary

Ps 136:1 & 23-24, 10-12, 13-15
His mercy endures forever.

1^st Reading: Ex 12:37-42

The Israelites left Rameses for Succoth, about six hundred thousand of them on the march, counting the men only, and not the children.

A great number of other people of all descriptions went with them, as well as sheep and cattle in droves.

With the dough they had brought with them from Egypt, they made cakes of unleavened bread. It had not risen, for when they were driven from Egypt they could not delay and had not even provided themselves with food.

The Israelites had been in Egypt for four hundred and thirty years. It was at the end of these four hundred and thirty years to the very day that the armies of Yahweh left Egypt.

This is the watch for Yahweh who brought Israel out of Egypt. This night is for Yahweh, and all the Israelites are also to keep vigil on this night, year after year, for all time.

Gospel: Jn 20:1-2, 11-18

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.“

Mary stood weeping outside the tomb; and as she wept, she bent down to look inside. She saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head, and the other at the feet. They said, “Woman, why are you weeping?“ She answered, “Because they have taken my Lord and I don’t know where they have put him.“

As she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not recognize him. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?“ She thought it was the gardener and answered him, “Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and take him away.“

Jesus said to her, “Mary!“ She turned, and said to him, “Rabboni!“—which means Master. Jesus said to her, “Do not touch me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them: I am ascending to my Father, who is your Father, to my God, who is your God.“

So Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord, and this is what he said to me.“

REFLECTION:

In the list of women-disciples, Mary Magdalene is often mentioned first. A disputed tradition identifies her with the woman from whom Jesus cast out seven demons as well as the woman-sinner who anointed Jesus’ feet. What is indisputable, however, is the fact that she was one of the women who assisted the Lord and the apostles as they travelled and preached the Good News of the Kingdom. Showing her loyalty and the genuineness of her discipleship, she remained at the foot of the Cross while the apostles fled. And the Lord reciprocated this with the singular privilege and blessing of being the first to encounter the Risen Lord on Easter morning. Following the instruction of the Risen Lord, she went out to bring the Good News to the disciples so that today she is honored as “the apostle to the Apostles.“

When the Lord Jesus appeared to her after the resurrection, Mary Magdalene was not able to recognize him immediately. She even mistook him for a gardener. Her own tears impaired her vision. She could not see clearly. This says a lot about our own experiences-when we are overwhelmed by pain, sadness, frustration, hopelessness and despair it is quite difficult to see the face of God. When we are in mourning we find it hard to feel the presence of God. But we have to trust the Lord and his promise: “I am with you always.“ Mary Magdalene’s Easter experience tells us that encounter with the Risen Lord should lead to proclamation of the Good News of the Resurrection.

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

15TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Psalter: Week 2 / (Green/White)
St. Lawrence of Brindisi, priest & doctor

Ps 116:12-13, 15 & 16bc, 17-18
I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.

1^st Reading: Ex 11:10—12:14

Moses and Aaron had worked all these marvels in the presence of Pharaoh, but Yahweh had made Pharaoh obstinate and he would not let the people of Israel leave his country.

Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt and said, “This month is to be the beginning of all months, the first month of your year. Speak to the community of Israel and say to them: On the tenth day of this month let each family take a lamb, a lamb for each house. If the family is too small for a lamb, they must join with a neighbor, the nearest to the house, according to the number of persons and to what each one can eat. You will select a perfect lamb without blemish, a male born during the present year, taken from the sheep or goats. Then you will keep it until the fourteenth day of the month.

On that evening all the people will slaughter their lambs and take some of the blood to put on the doorposts and on top of the doorframes of the houses where you eat. That night you will eat the flesh roasted at the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat the meat lightly cooked or boiled in water but roasted entirely over the fire—the head, the legs and the inner parts. Do not leave any of it until the morning. If any is left till morning, burn it in the fire.

And this is how you will eat: with a belt round your waist, sandals on your feet and a staff in your hand. You shall eat hastily for it is a Passover in honor of Yahweh. On that night I shall go through Egypt and strike every firstborn in Egypt, men and animals; and I will even bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt, I, Yahweh! The blood on your houses will be the sign that you are there. I will see the blood and pass over you; and you will escape the mortal plague when I strike Egypt.

This is a day you are to remember and celebrate in honor of Yahweh. It is to be kept as a festival day for all generations forever.

Gospel: Mt 12:1-8

It happened that, Jesus was walking through the wheat fields on a Sabbath. His disciples were hungry; and they began to pick some heads of wheat, to crush and to eat the grain. When the Pharisees noticed this, they said to Jesus, “Look at your disciples! They are doing what is prohibited on the Sabbath!“

Jesus answered, “Have you not read what David did, when he and his men were hungry? He went into the House of God, and they ate the bread offered to God, though neither he nor his men had the right to eat it, but only the priests. And have you not read in the law, how, on the Sabbath, the priests in the temple desecrate the Sabbath, yet they are not guilty?

I tell you, there is greater than the temple here. If you really knew the meaning of the words: It is mercy I want, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent.

Besides, the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.“

REFLECTION:

The Bible presents the Pharisees as staunch defenders of the Law (in this case, the Sabbath), and would not tolerate anyone violating its prescriptions or veer away from it. However, in the process they disregard a more superior commandment which is the law of charity. They have virtually reduced religion into an activity of keeping laws. By condemning the hungry disciples for picking heads of grain and eating them they have shown that for them, observing legal prescriptions was more important than showing love, compassion and mercy to the needy. We know that the Lord never intended this to be. “It is mercy I desire and not sacrifice“ says the Lord.

Moreover, the reaction of the Pharisees over the disciples’ supposed violation of Sabbath law tells us something about human nature. Their righteousness is not necessarily founded on their love for God and his commandments. It simply reveals that their service of God is tainted with selfishness and vainglory. Ever present in us is the propensity or inclination to be self-righteous and judgmental of others. We have the tendency to be critical of others, their behavior and their actions in order to make ourselves look better than them. At times we can even misuse or pervert the law if it will satisfy our selfish and crooked intentions.

Daily Reflection

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

15TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Psalter: Week 2 / (Green/Red)
St. Apollinarius, bishop & martyr

Ps 105:1 & 5, 8-9, 24-25, 26-27
The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.

1^st Reading: Ex 3: 13-20

Moses answered God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them: ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ they will ask me: ‘What is his name?’ What shall I answer them?“

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO AM. This is what you will say to the sons of Israel: ‘I AM sent me to you.“ God then said to Moses, “You will say to the Israelites: ‘YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me.’ That will be my name forever, and by this name they shall call upon me for all generations to come.

 Go! Call together the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob appeared to me and said: I have seen and taken account of how the Egyptians have treated you, and I mean to bring you out of all this oppression in Egypt and take you to the land of the Canaanites, a land flowing with milk and honey.’

The elders of Israel will listen to you and, with them, you shall go to the palace of the king of Egypt and say to him: ‘The God of the Hebrews, Yahweh, has met with us. Now let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to Yahweh our God.’

I well know that the king of the Egyptians will not allow you to go unless he is forced to do so. I will therefore stretch out my hand and strike Egypt in extraordinary ways, after which he will let you go.

Gospel: Mt 11:28-30

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart; and you will find rest. For my yoke is easy; and my burden is light.“

REFLECTION:

Weariness is a common expe­rience for all of us-“poor, banished children of Eve… mourning and weeping in this vale of tears.“ This seems to be constitutive of our sinful human condition. In this life we are sometimes burdened by the “cross“ that we have to bear, i.e., the tasks and responsibilities that come with the vocation or way of life we have embraced, as well as the pains and sufferings we have to endure in the realization of our mission in life. At other times we are burdened by our sins, guilt, fear, hopelessness and despair.

To those who experience the burdens of earthly existence Jesus offers rest and a means to overcome weariness. “Take my yoke upon your shoulders and learn from me...“ Some have suggested that Christ’s yoke is that of love. It is love itself that effectively transforms our attitude towards our tasks and responsibilities. It is love that changes the way we look at pain and suffering. When we are full of love we are capable of accepting the cross for the sake of those we love, as Jesus did. When our hearts are filled with love we no longer find our obligations burdensome but embraced willingly and joyfully.

Daily Reflection

Daily Reflection

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

15TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Psalter: Week 2 / (Green)

Ps 103:1b-2, 3-4, 6-7
The Lord is kind and merciful.

1^st Reading: Ex 3: 1-6, 9-12

Moses pastured the sheep of Jethro, his father-in-law, priest of Midian. One day he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the Mountain of God.

The angel of Yahweh appeared to him by means of a flame of fire in the middle of a bush. Moses saw that although the bush was on fire it did not burn up. Moses thought, “I will go and see this amazing sight, why is the bush not burning up?“

Yahweh saw that Moses was drawing near to look, and God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!“ He replied, “Here I am.“ Yahweh said to him, “Do not come near; take off your sandals because the place where you are standing is holy ground.“ And God continued, “I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.“

Moses hid his face lest his eyes look on God.

The cry of the sons of Israel has reached me and I have seen how the Egyptians oppress them.

Go now! I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.“

Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the people of Israel out of Egypt?“

God replied, “I will be with you and this will be the sign that I have sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.“

Gospel: Mt 11:25-27

On that occasion, Jesus said, “Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I praise you; because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to simple people. Yes, Father, this was your gracious will.

Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father; and no one knows the Father except the Son, and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

REFLECTION:

Coming to a true knowledge about God is something beyond our power. We come to know and are able to establish a relationship with Him only because God chooses to reveal himself to us. The initiative always comes from God. Moses’ encounter with God in the burning bush (First Reading) validates the statement of Jesus that the wise and the learned can never claim to have true knowledge and intimate relationship with God. We can know a lot of facts about the Father but do not really know him. As Mark Link once said, “Knowing our heavenly Father is not a question of opening a book and reading. It is a question of opening our heart and loving.“ Knowledge of God in its truest sense is not only an act of the mind but also of the heart and will. God reveals himself to us not merely for us to know him intellectually but does so because he desires to have a relationship with us.

Moreover, it is to simple people that God reveals himself. What is required is the attitude of childlikeness, the capacity to trust totally and be open to God and the divine will.

Daily Reflection

Daily Reflection

Daily Reflection

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