Daily Reflection

July 10, 2017 Monday

14TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Psalter: Week 1 / (Green)

Ps 91:1-2, 3-4, 14-15ab
In you, my God, I place my trust.

1^st Reading: Gen 28:10-22a

Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. When he reached a certain place the sun had set and he spent the night there. He took one of the stones that were there and using it as a pillow, he lay down to sleep.

While Jacob was sleeping, he had a dream in which a ladder stood on the earth with its top reaching to heaven and on it were angels of God going up and coming down. And Yahweh was standing there near him and said, “I am Yahweh, the God of your father, Abraham, and the God of Isaac. The land on which you sleep, I give to you and your descendants. Your descendants will be numerous like the specks of dust of the earth and you will spread out to the west and the east, to the north and the south. Through you and your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed. See, I am with you and I will keep you safe wherever you go. I will bring you back to this land and not leave you until I have done what I promised.“ Jacob woke from his dream and said, “Truly Yahweh was in this place and I was not aware of it.“ He was afraid and said, “How full of awe is this place! It is nothing less than a house of God; it is the Gate to Heaven!“

Then Jacob rose early and took the stone he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He named that place Bethel although before that it was called Luz. Then Jacob made a vow, “If Yahweh will be with me and keep me safe during this journey I am making, if he gives me bread to eat and clothes to wear, and if I return in peace to my father’s house, then Yahweh will be my God. This stone which I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me, I will give back a tenth.“

Gospel: Mt 9:18-26

While Jesus was speaking to them, an official of the synagogue came up to him, bowed before him and said, “My daughter has just died, but come and place your hands on her, and she will live.“ Jesus stood up and followed him with his disciples.

Then a woman, who had suffered from a severe bleeding for twelve years, came up from behind and touched the edge of his cloak; for she thought, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.“ Jesus turned, saw her and said, “Courage, my daughter, your faith has saved you.“ And from that moment, the woman was cured.

When Jesus arrived at the official’s house and saw the flute players and the excited crowd, he said, “Get out of here! The girl is not dead. She is only sleeping!“ And they laughed at him. But once the crowd had been turned out, Jesus went in and took the girl by the hand, and she stood up. The news of this spread through the whole area.

REFLECTION:

An author once compared the miraculous cloak of Jesus that the woman touched to the sacraments of the Church. Just as the woman in the Gospel reached out in faith and touched Jesus through his cloak, so we can reach out in faith and touch Jesus through the sacraments. If we do, Jesus’ healing power will flow into us, just as it flowed into the woman. The comparison is not perfect but it helps us appreciate what a precious gift the sacraments are. They serve a valuable purpose. They are powerful symbols that mediate the healing power of God, leading us to wholeness and fullness of life. May we have the desire to encounter the Lord frequently through the sacraments that we can experience this powerful presence.

By bringing the synagogue official’s daughter back to life, Jesus proves once more that he is no ordinary human being. Son of God that He is, he has power over death. For Jesus and for us believers, earthly death is only a form of “sleep.“ Death, therefore, is not something that should frighten us. As the late Cardinal Bernardin once said, “Death is a friend, not an enemy.“

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
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July 9, 2017 Sunday

14TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Psalter: Week 1 / (Green)

Ps 145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13-14
I will praise your name forever, my king and my God.

1^st Reading: Zec 9:9-10

Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout for joy, daughter of Jerusalem! For your king is coming, just and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. No more chariots in Ephraim, no more horses in Jerusalem, for he will do away with them. The warrior’s bow shall be broken when he dictates peace to the nations. He will reign from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

2^nd Reading: Rom 8:9, 11-13

Yet, your existence is not in the flesh, but in the spirit, because the Spirit of God is within you. If you did not have the Spirit of Christ, you would not belong to him.

And, if the Spirit of him, who raised Jesus from the dead, is within you, he, who raised Jesus Christ from among the dead, will also give life to your mortal bodies. Yes, he will do it, through his Spirit, who dwells within you.

Then, brothers, let us leave the flesh and no longer live according to it. If not, we will die. Rather, walking in the spirit, let us put to death the body’s deeds, so that we may live.

Gospel: Mt 11:25-30

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.

“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:

Read: There is every reason to rejoice because God is a king who dictates peace, and not war, to the nations. Christ invites the weary and the burdened to seek refuge and rest in him. In and through the working of the Spirit, God claims us as His own.

Reflect: Those who have the Spirit of God do the works of God. If we bear the Spirit of God, how well do we share in God’s work of brokering peace between individuals, families, communities, and peoples? How well do we serve as resting place and refuge for the weary and the burdened?

Pray: Pray the Franciscan prayer of Peace: “Make me a channel of your peace…“

Act: Visit a sick person today and bring God’s consolation to her/him.

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

July 8, 2017 Saturday

Ps 135:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6
Praise the Lord for the Lord is good!

Psalter: Week 4 / (Green/White)
Memorial of Blessed Virgin Mary

1^st Reading: Gen 27:1-5, 15-29

When Isaac was old and his eyes so weak that he could no longer see, he called Esau, his older son, and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” he answered. Isaac continued, “You see I am old and I don’t know when I shall die; so take your weapons, your bow and arrow, go out into the country and hunt some game for me. Then prepare some of the savory food I like and bring it to me so that I may eat and give you my blessing before I die.”

Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau went into the country to hunt game and bring it back.

Then Rebekah took the best clothes of her elder son Esau that she had in the house and put them on Jacob, her younger son. With the goatskin she covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck, and she handed to him the bread and food she had prepared.

He went to his father and said, “Father!” He answered, “Yes, my son, who is it?” and Jacob said to his father, “It is Esau, your firstborn; I have done what you told me to do. Come, sit up and eat my game so that you may give me your blessing.” Isa ac said, “How quick you have been my son!” Jacob said, “Yahweh, your God, guided me.” Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near and let me feel you, my son, and know that it is you, Esau my son, or not.”

When Jacob drew near to Isaac, his father felt him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob but the hands are the hands of Esau.” He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like the hands of Esau his brother and so he blessed him. He asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” and Jacob answered, “I am.” Isaac said, “Bring me some of your game, my son, so that I may eat and give you my blessing.” So Jacob brought it to him and he ate. And he brought him wine and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.” So Jacob came near and kissed him.

Isaac then caught the smell of his clothes and blessed him, saying, “The smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed. May God give you of the dew of heaven; and of the richness of the earth; and abundance of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you and nations bow down before you. Be lord over your brothers, and let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone that curses you and blessed be everyone that blesses you!”

Gospel: Mt 9:14-17

Then the disciples of John came to him with the question, “How is it, that we and the Pharisees fast on many occasions, but not your disciples?“

Jesus answered them, “How can you expect wedding guests to mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The time will come, when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then, they will fast.

“No one patches an old coat with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for the patch will shrink and tear an even bigger hole in the coat. In the same way, you don’t put new wine into old wine skins. If you do, the wine skins will burst and the wine will be spilt. No, you put new wine into fresh skins; then both are preserved.“

REFLECTION:

John’s disciples were puzzled by the fact that Jesus and his disciples did not observe the laws of fasting in order to hasten the coming of the Kingdom of God. Little did they realize that the coming of Jesus marked the beginning of a new era in Israel. The longed-for Messiah has finally arrived. Fasting as a sign of hungering and preparing for his coming has become superfluous. It was no longer necessary. Now is the time of rejoicing.

Jesus’ statement about “new wine in new wineskins“ is equally puzzling. While the literal meaning is obvious, the symbolic is not. It seems that by this expression the Lord asks his disciples to forsake their worldly ways and live by the Spirit of Truth. The “old wineskin“ of their sinful past is incompatible with the newness and vitality of their life in Christ. The new life they have received in Christ is what the Lord describes in the gospel as “new wine“-a precious gift freely and generously given. Jesus’ disciples are to leave behind their old way of sin and embrace their new identity as children of the Heavenly Father.

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

July 7, 2017 Friday

13TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Psalter: Week 4 / (Green)

Ps 106:1b-2, 3-4a, 4b-5
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

1^st Reading: Gen 23:1-4, 19; 24:1-8, 62-67

Sarah lived a hundred and twenty-seven years. She died at Kiriatharba—that is Hebron—in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to weep and mourn for Sarah.

Abraham left his dead one and spoke to the Hittites, “I am only a stranger among you; give me a burial place among you, so that I may bury my dead.”

After this Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of Machpelah.

Abraham was now old and well on in years, and Yahweh had blessed him in every way. Abraham said to his senior servant, who was his steward, “Put your hand under my thigh and you will swear to me by Yahweh, God of heaven and earth, that you will not choose a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom we live; rather it is to my country and my kinsfolk that you will go to choose a wife for my son, Isaac.”

The servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman will not want to follow me to this country. In that case should I take your son to the country you came from?” Abraham said to him, “In no way will you take my son back. For Yahweh, God of heaven and God of earth, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my birth, spoke to me and swore to me that he would give this country to my race. He will send his angel before you, that you may find a wife for my son. But if the woman is unwilling to follow you, you will be free of this oath. In any case you are not to take my son down there.”

Now Isaac had come from the well of Lahai-roi, for he was living in the Negeb. As Isaac went out in the early evening to meditate in the field, he looked up and saw camels coming. Rebekah also looked up and when she saw Isaac she alighted from her camel and said to the servant, “Who is this man in the field coming to meet us?” He replied, “It is my master!” She then covered her face with her veil. The servant related to Isaac all that he had done and Isaac brought Rebekah into the tent of Sarah, his mother. He made her his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

Gospel: Mt 9:9-13

As Jesus moved on from there, he saw a man named Matthew, at his seat in the custom-house; and he said to him, “Follow me!“ And Matthew got up and followed him. Now it happened, while Jesus was at table in Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners joined Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why is it, that your master eats with sinners and tax collectors?“

When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people do not need a doctor, but sick people do. Go, and find out what this means: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.“

REFLECTION:

Jesus’ choice of Matthew as one of his disciples is quite encouraging for all of us. We are all sinners like Matthew. There comes a time when every one of us, no matter how good we are, sin against God. But sinfulness is never an obstacle for those who heed the call to take part in Jesus’ mission of evangelization. However, it is important that we leave behind everything that is incompatible or whatever that impedes us from committing ourselves to this mission. This is what Matthew did when he, upon hearing Jesus’ invitation, “Follow me!,“ immediately got up and followed Him, leaving behind his family and his customs post which symbolized his sinful lifestyle.

The meal, in the Jewish perspective, was an important occasion and a sign of fellowship. Hence the fact that Jesus openly shared meals with tax collectors and sinners was considered scandalous behavior. Jesus’ presence and fellowship with sinners was not a sign of approval of their sinful lifestyle but a manifestation of his non-condemnatory attitude. It was his way of saying that he does not give up on sinners. He believes that they can turn their life around especially after having experienced the mercy and compassion of God.

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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