 | Daily Bible Reflections
for June 30, 2011 |
|  Dear Lordie,
Be blessed by His Creative Word this Thursday!
Praying for you,
Bo Sanchez
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| | Christian Readiness Sometime after these events, God put Abraham to the test. He called to him “Abraham!” “Ready!” he replied. – Genesis 22:1 The call to serve God is a grace from God Himself. My call was built by grace through meaningful small encounters with Bo Sanchez. A bond of friendship was first developed when I joined a Marian pilgrimage that he organized. I was not actively involved with any of Bo’s numerous ministries but he would come to our home in Calamba to bring his ministry groups to a retreat. One time, on short notice, he brought his elders to the house and they brainstormed on some issues and he invited me to join the meeting. A few months thereafter, he asked me to head a caring or sharing group of businessmen, and then asked me to join him as a council member for one of The Feasts, a Sunday worship service and then added more responsibilities, which I accepted readily. Community service makes a Christian whole. That thought drowned any objection in my mind stemming out of my business priorities. That was my predisposition. The readiness to accept ministry service is pure grace which I embrace as God’s way of expressing His love. Rolly España (rnespana@nwineskin.com) 30 REFLECTION: Do you procrastinate when God calls you to serve? Do you create all sorts of alibis and excuses? Lord Jesus, I thank You for Your abounding grace that keeps me answering Your call. | |
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| | COMPANION | 1st READING This story is one that often inspires horror as it seems Abraham is willing to sacrifice the life of his son at the bidding of God! Both God and Abraham seem to have morally questionable characters. However, we have to realize that the moral sensibility of people more than 4,000 years ago was not as heightened as ours today. Human sacrifices were quite common and many other practices did not have the condemnation we would give them today. What we see as we journey through the Old Testament is a growing and deepening moral awareness of the dignity of the human person. We also need to recognize that the sacrifice never ocurred and that God provided an alternative sacrifice. Genesis 22:1-19 1 God put Abraham to the test. He called to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. 2 Then God said: “Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him up as a holocaust on a height that I will point out to you.” 3 Early the next morning Abraham saddled his donkey, took with him his son Isaac, and two of his servants as well, and with the wood that he had cut for the holocaust, set out for the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham got sight of the place from afar. 5 Then he said to his servants: “Both of you stay here with the donkey, while the boy and I go on over yonder. We will worship and then come back to you.” 6 Thereupon Abraham took the wood for the holocaust and laid it on his son Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. 7 As the two walked on together, Isaac spoke to his father Abraham. “Father!” he said. “Yes, son,” he replied. Isaac continued, “Here are the fire and the wood, but where is the sheep for the holocaust?” 8 “Son,” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the sheep for the holocaust.” Then the two continued going forward. 9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up his son Isaac, and put him on top of the wood on the altar. 10 Then he reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11 But the LORD’s messenger called to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!” “Yes, Lord,” he answered. 12 “Do not lay your hand on the boy,” said the messenger. “Do not do the least thing to him. I know now how devoted you are to God, since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son.” 13 As Abraham looked about, he spied a ram caught by its horns in the thicket. So he went and took the ram and offered it up as a holocaust in place of his son. 14 Abraham named the site Yahweh- yireh; hence people now say, “On the mountain the LORD will see.” 15 Again the LORD’s messenger called to Abraham from heaven 16 and said: “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you acted as you did in not withholding from me your beloved son, 17 I will bless you abundantly and make your descendants as countless as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore; your descendants shall take possession of the gates of their enemies, 18 and in your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing — all this because you obeyed my command.” 19 Abraham then returned to his servants, and they set out together for Beer-sheba, where Abraham made his home. P S A L M Psalms 115:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9 R: I will walk in the presence of the Lord, in the Land of the living. 1 Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name give glory because of your kindness, because of your truth. 2 Why should the pagans say, “Where is their God?” (R) 3 Our God is in heaven; whatever he wills, he does. 4 Their idols are silver and gold, the handiwork of men. (R) 5 They have mouths but speak not; they have eyes but see not; 6 they have ears but hear not; they have noses but smell not. (R) 8 Their makers shall be like them, everyone that trusts in them. 9 The house of Israel trusts in the LORD; he is their help and their shield. (R) G O S P E L We constantly encounter Jesus forgiving the sins of those who approach Him for healing. It is important for us to realize that the forgiveness of sins is the most fundamental healing we will receive. It is the basis for all other healing, particularly healing that will endure unto eternal life. Let us ensure that we never neglect the spiritual aspect of our lives even in the midst of the difficulty and hardship of material poverty and suffering. At least we may be able to find some spiritual consolation for encouragement. ALLELUIA R: Alleluia, alleluia God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. R: Alleluia, alleluia Matthew 9:1-8 1 After entering a boat, Jesus made the crossing, and came into his own town. 2 And there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.” 3 At that, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” 4 Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said, “Why do you harbor evil thoughts? 5 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sinsare forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” — he then said to the paralytic, “Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.” 7 He rose and went home. 8 When the crowds saw this they were struck with awe and glorified God who had given such authority to men. my reflections t h i n k : Forgiveness of sins is the most fundamental healing we will receive. 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 41-45 Psalm 41-45 | |
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| | SABBATH | THE EXTRAORDINARY POWER OF GOD The evangelist Matthew takes pains to show us the great power which Jesus had: over sickness, over nature, over demons, and, as depicted in today’s Gospel, over sin. It was such a power that incited controversy, disbelief and envy on the part of some scribes. Jesus in turn confronts them head-on, by showing them even more of such power (as it were): He cured a paralytic right in front of their eyes. In the first reading, meanwhile, we also have a display of God’s power. The well-known passage of the testing of Abraham over his son Isaac results in a confirmation of God being absolutely in command of everything. And since Abraham passed the test with flying colors, he is abundantly rewarded by a show of generous power on the part of God: “Because you acted as you did in not withholding from me your beloved son, I will bless you abundantly and make your descendants as countless as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore; your descendants shall take possession of the gates of their enemies, and in your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing — all this because you obeyed my command.” As we know by now, God’s power surely isn’t the power of a warlord governor or that of a greedy capitalist. Rather, it is a dominance on the part of the Omnipotent God. But paradoxically, such power of God owes its force in part to the subject of that power: that is, the humble submission of the human person to it. In the case of the first reading, it is Abraham’s heroic obedience and faith; in the Gospel, it is the paralytic’s openness and docility (in contrast with the cynicism of the scribes). Quite simply, we just have to submit ourselves to such a powerful God. Fr. Martin Macasaet, SDB Reflection Question: How much has the power of God revealed itself in your life? Almighty God, may I always submit to Your power in my life. Amen. St. Lucina, pray for us. | |
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