 | Daily Bible Reflections
for August 11, 2011 |
|  Dear Lordie,
Be blessed by His Creative Word this Thursday!
Praying for you,
Bo Sanchez
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| | FORGIVENESS COME TO LIFE Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” – Matthew 18:21-22 “In a bare, white-walled cell in Rome’s Rebibbia prison, John Paul tenderly held the hand that had held the gun that was meant to kill him. For 21 minutes, the Pope sat with his would-be assassin....” This was Time magazine’s moving account of John Paul II’s momentous prison visit in 1983. As I looked at the picture of Pope John Paul II embracing his gunman, with only tenderness and inner peace emanating from his face, I was teary-eyed. I realized that what I was looking at was no longer just a picture but the message of forgiveness come to life. Can a rape victim face her attacker and forgive him? Can a man forgive the drunk driver who killed his wife and child? Can a holocaust survivor forgive the prison guard who tortured her? By God’s grace, they did — they all forgave the ones who brought them the most pain. By that very same grace, we can forgive anyone anything. Forgiveness may be difficult but not impossible to do. Just look at our beloved Pope John Paul II lovingly enfolding Agca in an embrace of forgiveness. Look to Jesus who forgave sinners as He hung on the cross. Dina Pecaña (dpecana@yahoo.com) 11 REFLECTION: Is there a sin more terrible than Christ’s death on the cross that God will never forgive? Father, give us an abundance of Your grace to forgive all those who have done us wrong. | |
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| | COMPANION | 1st READING The ark of the covenant preceded the Israelites into the Promised Land, showing that it was God who would deliver the land into their hands to the degree that they remained faithful to the covenant. Whenever the people forsook God and started to worship other gods, they became the slaves of the other nations. Joshua 3:7-10, 11, 13-17 7 The LORD said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know I am with you, as I was with Moses. 8 Now command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant to come to a halt in the Jordan when they reach the edge of the waters.” 9 So Joshua said to the children of Israel, “Come here and listen to the words of the LORD, your God. 10 This is how you will know that there is a living God in your midst, who at your approach will dispossess the Canaanites. 11 The ark of the covenant of the LORD of the whole earth will precede you into the Jordan. 13 When the soles of the feet of the priests carrying the ark of the LORD, the Lord of the whole earth, touch the water of the Jordan, it will cease to flow; for the water flowing down from upstream will halt in a solid bank.” 14 The people struck their tents to cross the Jordan, with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant ahead of them. 15 No sooner had these priestly bearers of the ark waded into the waters at the edge of the Jordan, which overflows all its banks during the entire season of the harvest, 16 than the waters flowing from upstream halted, backing up in a solid mass for a very great distance indeed, from Adam, a city in the direction of Zarethan; while those flowing downstream toward the Salt Sea of the Arabah disappeared entirely. Thus the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 While all Israel crossed over on dry ground, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD remained motionless on dry ground in the bed of the Jordan until the whole nation had completed the passage. P S A L M Psalms 114:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 R: Alleluia 1 When Israel came forth from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of alien tongue, 2 Judah became his sanctuary, Israel his domain. (R) 3 The sea beheld and fled; Jordan turned back. (R) 4 The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like the lambs of the flock. (R) 5 Why is it, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn back? 6 You mountains, that you skip like rams? You hills, like the lambs of the flock? (R) G O S P E L Peter must be having some conflicts with one of the Apostles and is wondering how much longer he can take it. So he asks Jesus how many times he has to forgive his brother. The Rabbis said four. Peter is being very generous and so says seven, but Jesus says, “No, not seven but seventy-seven times,” just as God our Father forgives us our sins so many times we cannot count them. ALLELUIA R: Alleluia, alleluia Let your countenance shine upon your servant and teach me your statutes. R: Alleluia, alleluia Matthew 18:21-19:1 21 Peter approached Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. 23 That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. 25 Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. 26 At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ 27 Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. 28 When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ 29 Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30 But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt. 31 Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. 32 His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. 33 Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ 34 Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. 35 So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.” 19: 1 When Jesus finished these words, he left Galilee and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan. my reflections t h i n k : God our Father forgives us our sins so many times we cannot count them. 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 Wisdom Sirach 6-10 | |
Didache | Companion | Sabbath | Top
| | SABBATH | FREEDOM AND FORGIVENESS Where there is no forgiveness, freedom is lost. This may sound a little harsh at first, but if we reflect upon the idea we will begin to understand that it is true. When a person sins against us, a relationship of bondage is established. We are tied to the sinner in a relationship that can go only one of two ways. We can forgive the person and free the relationship to become what it should be in Christ; or we can seek revenge or hold resentment and thus bind ourselves to that person in a very unhealthy and ultimately destructive way. It is irrelevant what sin we are talking about, though obviously the bigger the sin, the more difficult it is to choose the former rather than the latter. It is also important to recognize that by forgiving a person, we do not at all give any approval to the act of sin. Forgiving a person in no way legitimizes what the person did to sin against us. Forgiveness is a gift we bring to the person who sins against us, as though we are saying, “Look, I do not want this action to harm our relationship in an irreparable way.” It is a gift of mercy; it is a gift of peace; it is a gift of generosity and love. Why should we forgive those who sin against us? That has a very simple answer as indicated by today’s Gospel. If we want God to forgive our sins, then we must learn to forgive those who sin against us, or else we will be guilty of hypocrisy. What right have we to ask God’s forgiveness if we are not willing to forgive the sins of others against us? Precisely none! Forgiveness frees us to continue in relationship with the sinner in the best way possible, but there will always be a residue of the sin, for example, in the broken trust between two people. There is little we can do about this. This is one of the consequences and effects of sin. This is even more reason for us to try to avoid sinif possible. Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL Reflection Question: Am I willing to forgive those who have sinned against me? Holy Spirit, grant me the grace to let go of the hurt of sin so that I will be able to forgive the people who have sinned against me, no matter how big or small the sin was. St. Lelia, pray for us. | |
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