 | Daily Bible Reflections
for August 14, 2011 |
|  Dear Lordie,
Each Sunday is a Mini-Easter. Show that Jesus is alive today!
Praying for you,
Bo Sanchez
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| | ONE GOD, ONE PEOPLE For God delivered all to disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all. – Romans 11:32 “May you be saved,” read the text message that a listener sent while we were broadcasting live from the radio station. Our topic: the Blessed Virgin. The listener bombarded us with text messages, telling us that we should pray only to the one true God. Our guest priest explained very gently why we Catholics honor the Mother of God and the saints. I was trying hard not to lash out at this person for having the audacity to imply that I (and all other Catholics) was doomed. Thankfully, I was able to voice out my thoughts in a friendly way. Our God is a merciful God. Whether we’re Catholic, or Muslim, or Protestant, or Jewish, I believe that God, in His loving mercy and kindness, will save us when we ask Him to because we are all His. The second reading today describes what kind of God He really is. His mercy is encompassing! Gentiles and Jews, He forgave. And because He is constant and faithful, from the beginning until this day, He is the same forgiving God. Instead of fighting over the differences in our faith, let us recognize that we all come from one God, making us one people under heaven.Nova Arias (nova.svp@gmail.com) 14 REFLECTION: How do we handle people who criticize us for our faith? Do we respond in a loving way? Father in heaven, remind me that every person I meet is my brother and my sister so that I may treat them with love and respect. | |
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| | COMPANION | 1st READING God reveals through the prophet Isaiah, who lived some 600 years before Christ, that God would accept the pagans (non-Jews) into His kingdom. For the Jews, this was a radical idea and something that they found very hard to accept as they saw themselves as the specially chosen people of God. Sometimes we, too, may feel that we are God’s special chosen ones and find it hard to accept that God would also invite into His Kingdom the people that we despise and look down upon. Isaiah 56:1, 6-7 1 Thus says the LORD: Observe what is right, do what is just; for my salvation is about to come, my justice, about to be revealed. 6 The foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, ministering to him, loving the name of the LORD, and becoming his servants — all who keep the sabbath free from profanation and hold to my covenant, 7 them I will bring to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. P S A L M Psalms 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8 R: O God, let all the nations praise you! 1 [2] May God have pity on us and bless us; may he let his face shine upon us. 2 [3] So may your way be known upon earth; among all nations, your salvation. (R) 4 [5] May the nations be glad and exult because you rule the peoples in equity; the nations on the earth you guide. (R) 5 [6] May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you! 7 [8] May God bless us, and may all the ends of the earth fear him! (R) 2nd READING While acknowledging that he had a special mission to the Gentiles (non- Jews), the Apostle Paul has a deep longing that his own people would also come to faith in Jesus as the Messiah. He sees that by rejecting the Messiah, the Jews allowed the Gentiles to come into the Kingdom. But eventually the Jews will come to faith and that, Paul says, will herald the second coming of Christ. Let us pray for the Jewish people that they can receive the gift of faith. Romans 11:13-15, 29-32 13 Brothers and sisters: I am speaking to you Gentiles. In as much then as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I glory in my ministry 14 in order to make my race jealous and thus save some of them. 15 For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 29 For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. 30 Just as you once disobeyed God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so they have now disobeyed in order that, by virtue of the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy. 32 For God delivered all to disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all. G O S P E L In the story of this Canaanite woman, we see an image of what would happen later when St. Peter went and preached to the Gentiles and they came to faith in Jesus. Even though Jesus was not sent by His Father to minister to the Gentiles, He allows this woman to convince Him to grant her request as a way of indicating that the Gospel would be for them as well as for the Jewish people. ALLELUIA R: Alleluia, alleluia Jesus proclaimed the Gospel of the kingdom and cured every disease among the people. R: Alleluia, alleluia Matthew 15:21-28 21 At that time, Jesus went from that place and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” 23 But Jesus did not say a word in answer to her. His disciples came and asked him, “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.” 24 He said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But the woman came and did him homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” 27 She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” 28 Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And the woman’s daughter was healed from that hour. my reflections t h i n k : Sometimes we, too, may feel that we are God’s special chosen ones and find it hard to accept that God would also invite into His Kingdom the people that we despise and look down upon. 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 21-25 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 _______________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ | |
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| | SABBATH | ACTING WITH INTEGRITY The first line of this reading indicates quite clearly that God is very interested in the decisions we make. Are we men and women of integrity, justice and truth? All of these concepts have an enormous impact on our lives. We cannot afford to dismiss them as the result of human efforts and therefore not relevant to the spiritual life. We have to learn to integrate our spiritual beliefs with the way we live. The degree to which we do this successfully will indicate how effective we are in witnessing to the Gospel. This is what we mean by living a life of integrity. St. Peter reminds us that we should always be ready to give an account of the hope with which we live (1 Peter 3:15). This assumes that our lives are significant enough to stand out from the rest of the people around us. This ought to be the goal of our lives — to be different enough in order to make a difference in other people’s lives. This is the way the power of the Gospel is made manifest in the world — through the holiness and commitment of believers. Isaiah tells the Israelites that their justice and concern cannot just be for themselves but must include foreigners in their land as well. In a world that was somewhat ethnocentric, this is a rather novel idea that would not have been readily accepted. In his time, more than 2,600 years ago, it was the accepted norm to look after one’s own people even at the expense of justice and fairness for others. The Jewish legal framework was quite revolutionary in the substantial protection it provided for foreigners. If we live the life of the Spirit, if we follow the laws of God, our lives would become the prophetic instruments promoting life and rejecting sin and the culture of death. This call is a privilege as it will place our lives at the heart of the proclamation of the Gospel, a place we should desire to be above all others.Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL Reflection Question: Are we willing to take on this call or is God going to have to look for someone else to do it? Holy Spirit, help me to accept the call God makes on my life and give me the grace to be faithful to following it wherever it may lead me. St. Demetrius, pray for us. | |
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