 | Daily Bible Reflections
for June 23, 2011 |
|  Dear Lordie,
Never lose sight of Jesus this Thursday.
Praying for you,
Bo Sanchez
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| | Better For You “So then, anyone who hears these words of mine and acts accordingly is like a wise man, who built his house on rock.” – Matthew 7: 24 “To my family and close friends, for the new year, I will be better for you,” read the text message I sent on New Year’s Eve. It was a sincere commitment — simple but difficult to keep. To minimize the chances of failure, I started off by listing down what I needed to do and made the choice to act on them. In the list were: Be patient. Be calm. For things I cannot change, let them be. I did not send this text message to the Lord. Instead, I went to confession and promised to be better for Him. This meant behaving in a manner in which people around me will see His image in me. What a tough commitment for the darkness of sin is always capable of inserting itself into our life and mind. So I increased my prayer time and sought ongoing formation by reading His teachings daily. Amazingly, I have so far been spared of a lot of close calls. Not perfect but enough for some to take notice of the positive change in my behavior. I am making great progress and I hope it becomes permanent. Marie Franco (rfranco@its.jnj.com) 23 REFLECTION: Action speaks louder than words. The evil one is forever lurking to pull me away from You. My Lord, send forth my guardian angels to shield me from his temptations. | |
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| | COMPANION | 1st READING Hagar’s son with Abraham, Ishmael, is the human solution to the problem of the barrenness of Sarai’s womb. It is not God’s solution! God works a miracle in order that Isaac is born to Sarai. If God has made a promise to us then we need to trust that He will make good on it. If God cannot be trusted, then no one can be trusted! Let us seek to grow in our faith and trust in God’s promises to us. Genesis 16:1-12, 15-16 1 Abram’s wife Sarai had borne him no children. She had, however, an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar. 2 Sarai said to Abram: “The LORD has kept me from bearing children. Have intercourse, then, with my maid; perhaps I shall have sons through her.” Abram heeded Sarai’s request. 3 Thus, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, his wife Sarai took her maid, Hagar the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his concubine. 4 He had intercourse with her, and she became pregnant. When she became aware of her pregnancy, she looked on her mistress with disdain. 5 So Sarai said to Abram: “You are responsible for this outrage against me. I myself gave my maid to your embrace; but ever since she became aware of her pregnancy, she has been looking on me with disdain. May the LORD decide between you and me!” 6 Abram told Sarai: “Your maid is in your power. Do to her whatever you please.” Sarai then abused her so much that Hagar ran away from her. 7 The LORD’S messenger found her by a spring in the wilderness, the spring on the road to Shur, 8 and he asked, “Hagar maid of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She answered, “I am running away from my mistress, Sarai.” 9 But the LORD’S messenger told her: “Go back to your mistress and submit to her abusive treatment. 10 I will make your descendants so numerous,” added the LORD’S messenger, “that they will be too many to count. 11 Besides,” the LORD’S messenger said to her: “You are now pregnant and shall bear a son; you shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard you, God has answered you. 12 This one shall be a wild ass of a man, his hand against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him; in opposition to all his kin shall he encamp.” 15 Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram named the son whom Hagar bore him Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael. P S A L M Psalm 106:1-2, 3-4, 4-5 R: Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. 1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. 2 Who can tell the mighty deeds of the LORD, or proclaim all his praises? (R) 3 Blessed are they who observe what is right, who do always what is just. 4 Remember me, O LORD, as you favor your people. (R) Visit me with your saving help, 5 that I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones, rejoice in the joy of your people, and glory with your inheritance. (R) G O S P E L Jesus affirms in no uncertain terms that faith is nothing unless it leads to action! It is the man and woman of faith who both hear the Word of God and put it into action that will inherit eternal life. Faith in the will of God is the only sure foundation upon which to build our lives. Let us reflect upon this text carefully so that we give the Holy Spirit greater opportunity to convince us of its truth. ALLELUIA R: Alleluia, alleluia Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him and we will come to him. R: Alleluia, alleluia Matthew 7:21-29 21 Jesus said to his disciples: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’ 23 Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.’ 24 Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. 25 The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. 26 And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. 27 The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined.” 28 When Jesus finished these words, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes. my reflections t h i n k: Faith is nothing unless it leads to action! 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 Psalm 6-10 Psalm 6-10 | |
Didache | Companion | Sabbath | Top
| | SABBATH | THE CONCLUSION OF THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT Our Gospel reading today is the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, and a fitting conclusion it is indeed. We are reminded that all the many teachings we have received from our Lord Jesus might only end up to nothing if we reduce our Christian life to mere lip-service or activism. Two points are crucial here, as hinted at by two verbs used by Jesus, in the passage: • Know, in the Semitic sense of the term, connotes a deep personal relationship. Jesus’ “I never knew you” is therefore rendered more meaningfully as “You have never really been my friends.” • Do, or put into practice, is not about exterior practices or interior feelings. It is rather an action coming from the whole person, involving one’s entire self (cf. James 1:22-25). This is the kind of “living out” of Jesus’ teaching that ensures a solid foundation, guaranteed against torrents and winds. Such an august teaching of Jesus Christ definitely cannot remain only in paper as “nice,” to be domesticated into some sort of an “à la carte” body of ethical codes that one can just whimsically take or skip. The famous indictment by the great Mahatma Gandhi comes to mind, if only to serve as a warning and a reminder to all of us. He remarked that it was the Sermon on the Mount that “endeared Jesus to me.” But at the same time, he gave a sharp, biting critique of us Christians: “The message, to my mind, has suffered distortion... Much of what passes as Christianity is a negation of the Sermon on the Mount.” In other words, the conclusion to the Sermon on the Mount depends on us now. Fr. Martin Macasaet, SDB Reflection Question: How am I living out the teachings from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount? Lord Jesus, turn me into a true Christian who does Your will and follows Your teachings, in season and out of season. Amen. St. Libert, pray for us. | |
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