Fwd: Lordie, God's Message For You Today, January 3, 2010

Daily Bible Reflections for January 3, 2010 Dear Lordie, Each Sunday is a Mini-Easter. Show that Jesus is alive today! Praying for you, Bo Sanchez 3 January Sunday TODAY'S READINGS: DIDACHE | COMPANION | SABBATH DIDACHE Solemnity of Epiphany of the Lord MEDALS "Rise up splendor! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you" – Isaiah 60:1 March 2008 was a special month for our family. Our two kids took home a couple of medals for being outstanding students. I asked them not to remove their medals so everyone could see their achievement. They wore the medals from the school to the restaurant where we celebrated, until we got home. I also posted their pictures on the Internet for relatives and friends to appreciate. The recognition they received made me even prouder about my kids. Similarly, our heavenly Father is also proud of you. The only difference is, He doesn't need to see a medal hanging on your neck to be pleased. Doing simple acts of love and goodness is more than enough for Himto say, "Look, this is My child whom I love and care for."Alvin Fabella (alvinfabella@yahoo.com) REFLECTION: Medals or none, God's love for you remains the same. Lord, may I be a mirror that reflects Your glory. May others feel Your love through the acts of love I share with them. Amen. Didache | Companion | Sabbath | Top COMPANION 1st READING How are we supposed to understand this imagery in the Prophetic Writings? I honestly do not know. What I do know is that they are inspiring. Heaven must be an extraordinary place to provoke such descriptions. I cannot wait to get there even if these descriptions are a little exaggerated. Open your heart to the Spirit and allow Him to give you a vision for your life, one that will inspire you and give you the strength to go on with God's call. We all need a little inspiration once in a while. Isaiah 60:1-6 1 Rise up in splendor! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you. 2 See, darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover the peoples; but upon you the LORD shines, and over you appears his glory. 3 Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance. 4 Raise your eyes and look about; they all gather and come to you. Your sons come from afar, and your daughters in the arms of their nurses. 5 Then you shall be radiant at what you see, your heart shall throb and overflow, for the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you, the wealth of nations shall be brought to you. 6  Caravans of camels shall fill you, dromedaries from Midian and Ephah; all from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the praises of the LORD. PSALMS Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13 R: Lord, every nation on earth will adore you. 1 O God, with your judgment endow the king, and with your justice, the king's son; 2 he shall govern your people with justice and your afflicted ones with judgment. (R) 7 Justice shall flower in his days, and profound peace, till the moon be no more. 8 May he rule from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. (R) 10 The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts; the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute. 11 All kings shall pay him homage, all nations shall serve him. (R) 12 For he shall rescue the poor man when he cries out, and the afflicted when he has no one to help him. 13 He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor; the lives of the poor he shall save. (R) 2ND READING It is a privilege and honor to be given a role in bringing Christ into the world. When we get caught up in the mystery of the Trinity and embrace the fullness of all we are called to be and live as Christians, we become epiphanies of God in our own right — we make Him known to the world by the way in which we live our lives. Never forget this truth as you grow as a disciple of Jesus. Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6 2 Brothers and sisters: You have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for your benefit, 3 namely, that the mystery was made known to me by revelation. 5 It was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: 6 that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and co-partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. G O S P E L The kings come from afar to visit the Christ child. Metaphorically speaking, how far have we to go before we come into the presence of God? I hope not too far, and whatever the distance, now is the time to start bridging the gap between ourselves and God. There is nothing to stop any of us from taking steps in the right direction to bring ourselves into a deeper knowledge and experience of God. Let us throw away our doubts and fears and put our lives into the hands of God as Jesus did 2000 years ago. Matthew 2:1-12 1 When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, 2 saying, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage." 3 When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They said to him, "In  Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet: 6 'And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.' " 7 Then Herod called the magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star's appearance. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage." 9 After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. 10 They were overjoyed at seeing the star, 11 and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way. my reflections t h i n k : Let us throw away our doubts and fears and put our lives into the hands of God as Jesus did 2,000 years ago. _________________________________________________________ God's special verse/thought for me today________________ _________________________________________________________ T O D A Y ' S BLESSING LIST Thank You Lord for: ____________________________________ _______________________________________________________ READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR  John 9-12 SABBATH PAUSE My weekly time with God THANK YOU LIST Things to be grateful for from the past week ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ SPECIAL NEEDS Things to ask God for in the coming week ________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ HIDDEN TREASURE Most important word God told me this week ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Didache | Companion | Sabbath | Top SABBATH MAKING GOD KNOWN TO ALL The Solemnity of the Epiphany of our Lord is a feast that celebrates our duty to reveal the truth of God's presence to His people. Jesus reveals this truth and so many others about God to us. The revelation of who God is that accompanies the incarnation, life, death and resurrection of Jesus is such that anyone who receives it can never be the same again. To know the truth about God is to enter into the gift of salvation. This is why it is such an awesome privilege to be called to proclaim the Gospel to others. It is also why living the Gospel to its fullest is so important as a means by which people can be introduced to the Gospel in a simple and non-threatening way. The Epiphany is recorded in the Scriptures under the guise of a spectacular event that occurs on top of a mountain, one of the classic places for revelations in the Old Testament. We should realize from this that understanding the nature of this event in Jesus' life is going to rely upon a Jewish understanding of Old Testament revelations. As Christians, we believe that the revelation that comes through Jesus is final and definitive. It is only our understanding that will increase in the years to come, not the content of our knowledge about God. The Scriptures are designed to reveal God to us, and the various epiphanies of Jesus are intense moments in this revelation. Even today, God continues to reveal Himself to us in prayer and these events can properly be called epiphanies. But I prefer to play down revelations received by individuals so as to avoid any public hysteria all too often associated with such events. It is too easy for people to get distracted by such revelations, usually meant for the individual alone, and ultimately spend their efforts promoting an individual's interpretation of the Gospel rather than the Gospel itself.Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL Reflection Question: Am I often distracted when I hear about individuals who seem to have special or unique experiences of revelation from God? Holy Spirit, help me to be faithful in living the Gospel to the full, and thus serve as an epiphany or revelation of the truth of the Gospel, to all whom I meet. St. Bertilia, pray for us. Didache | Companion | Sabbath | Top

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