 | Daily Bible Reflections
for June 14, 2010 |
|  Dear Lordie,
Carry the Lord in your heart this Monday!
Praying for you,
Bo Sanchez
| | VICTIM OR VICTOR? “When someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other one to him as well.” – Matthew 5:39 I caught my boyfriend cheating on me for the nth time. By then I had committed to memory the passages, “How many times must I forgive my brother… not 70 times but 70 x 77 times,” and the passage above from our Gospel today. “I know about Miss X,” I told him. The moment I mentioned her name, he began his usual routine of denial. He just finished his first line when I put up my hand, signaling him to stop, followed by the dramatic line: “It’s OK. I’ve already forgiven you.” I could never forget the look on his face followed by a long pause of guilt which gave way to a flood of tears down his cheeks. Aaaah… the power of forgiveness. But that didn’t stop him from his infidelity. A friend of mine managed to put some sense into me when she said that I can forgive him but I didn’t have to stay with him. The words of Jesus are meant to empower us and to teach us to love even when it is inconvenient. It’s not meant to turn us into a victim, but instead, to transform us into a victor as we learn to give up our right to ourselves and allow Him to live His life through us. Ronna Ledesma (ronnaledesma@email.com) REFLECTION: Be as meek as lambs but as cunning as serpents. Lord, let Your Word continue to empower me and transform me. | |
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| | COMPANION | 1st READING Jezebel is not a nice person. She thinks nothing of anyone except herself — I believe even her desire to obtain the vineyard for her husband has ulterior motives. Ahab is also not without fault here as he willingly takes what is not his own from the widow of Naboth. Such evil always has consequences; there is always a price to be paid. Jesus pays the price of our sins but there still remains the work of purification. We no longer accept that the sins of the fathers are vested on their children. Thank God for purgatory because it means that I will be the one who has to pay at least something of the price of my sins. 1 Kings 21:1-16 1 Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel next to the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria, 2 Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard to be my vegetable garden, since it is close by, next to my house. I will give you a better vineyard in exchange, or, if you prefer, I will give you its value in money.” 3 “The LORD forbid,” Naboth answered him, “that I should give you my ancestral heritage.” 4 Ahab went home disturbed and angry at the answer Naboth the Jezreelite had made to him “I will not give you my ancestral heritage.” Lying down on his bed, he turned away from food and would not eat. 5 His wife Jezebel came to him and said to him, “Why are you so angry that you will not eat?” 6 He answered her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, ‘Sell me your vineyard, or, if you prefer, I will give you a vineyard in exchange.’ But he refused to let me have his vineyard.” 7 “A fine ruler over Israel you are indeed!” his wife Jezebel said to him. “Get up. Eat and be cheerful. I will obtain the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite for you.” 8 So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and, having sealed them with his seal, sent them to the elders and to the nobles who lived in the same city with Naboth. 9 This is what she wrote in the letters “Proclaim a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people. 10 Next, get two scoundrels to face him and accuse him of having cursed God and king. Then take him out and stone him to death.” 11 His fellow citizens — the elders and the nobles who dwelt in his city — did as Jezebel had ordered them in writing, through the letters she had sent them. 12 They proclaimed a fast and placed Naboth at the head of the people. 13 Two scoundrels came in and confronted him with the accusation, “Naboth has cursed God and king.” And they led him out of the city and stoned him to death. 14 Then they sent the information to Jezebel that Naboth had been stoned to death. 15 When Jezebel learned that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, “Go on, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite which he refused to sell you, because Naboth is not alive, but dead.” 16 On hearing that Naboth was dead, Ahab started off on his way down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it. P S A L M Psalm 5:2-3ab, 4b-6a, 6b-7 R: Lord, listen to my groaning. 1 [2] Hearken to my words, O LORD, attend to my sighing. 2 [3] Heed my call for help, my king and my God! (R) 3 [4] At dawn I bring my plea expectantly before you. 4 [5] For you, O God, delight not in wickedness; no evil man remains with you; 5 [6] the arrogant may not stand in your sight. (R) You hate all evildoers. 6 [7] You destroy all who speak falsehood; the bloodthirsty and the deceitful the LORD abhors. (R) G O S P E L If we keep getting back at one another for the hurts we inflict upon each other, when will it ever end? The simple answer to this is, “Never!” And this is what we see in the century-old disputes between nations and ethnic groups in the world today. Jesus tells us the only way to stop such hatred is through forgiveness. Let us be the first to offer forgiveness, even before our opponent asks for it! We do not have to ‘play the game’ by their rules, particularly when those rules are wrong and sinful! Matthew 5:38-42 38 Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. 40 If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. 41 Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.” my reflections t h i n k : Jesus pays the price of our sins, but there still remains the work of purification. _________________________________________________________
God’s special verse/thought for me today________________
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T O D A Y ’ S BLESSING LIST Thank You Lord for: ____________________________________ _______________________________________________________ READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR 1Chronicles 3-4 | |
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| | SABBATH | LORD, LISTEN TO MY GROANING There are times when the readings touch me deeply and personally. Today is one of them. It speaks directly to my heart, wounded a number of times by “man’s inhumanity to man.” I am sure many of my readers will also be touched to the core by what they read from the first book of Kings. It speaks about unjust and undeserved suffering, caused by the scheming and plotting of unjust individuals. At such times, when the world seems to be falling down on you, when one faces what appears to be a blank wall, one either crumbles in defeat and despair, or braces oneself with utter humility and resignation, bends one’s knees before the God of life and sighs, just as we did today: “Lord, listen to my groaning.” My heart reaches out with compassion for Naboth, who paid dearly with his life after he stood up for his rights. But this story is neither new nor strange and implausible. In this complex world filled with all sorts of challenges, we are face to face with what Robinson (1994) calls the “contours of hopelessness.” The landscape of our lives, very much like that of Naboth’s, is littered with so many reasons to surrender and allow oneself to be carried away by the forces of despair. The first reading today, taken by itself, almost sounds like crime does pay, and evil triumphs. But the totality of today’s liturgy, particularly the Gospel, brings to the fore a message, not only of consolation, but of good news — saving good news. This message is good, despite its being premised by what appears to be a temporary victory of evil against good, despite the story of Naboth’s untimely, unfair and cruel death in the hands of the scheming Jezebel. That good news is no other than love. It is love that is costly. Unlike the “cheap grace” of earthly consolation, this love that leads us to seek the God of consolation is costly in terms of demands: “Offer no resistance to injury.” It is to Him that we cry out, “Lord, listen to my groaning.”Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB Reflection Question: Love is costly. It can cause unjust and undeserved suffering. But love is what leads us to God. God of love, listen to my groaning. Enlarge my heart to accept the suffering that loving You brings. St. Elgar, pray for us. | |
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