 | Daily Bible Reflections
for January 25, 2012 |
|  Dear Lordie,
God will never leave you. This Wednesday is no different.
Praying for you,
Bo Sanchez
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| | Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle SWITCHING SIDES But Ananias replied, “Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man, what evil things he has done to your holy ones in Jerusalem.” – Acts 9: 13 Scared, suspicious and resentful, Jeruza still obeyed her boss. She was tasked to orient Pia, the new executive who came from their rival company. Pia was infamous for her previous attacks on this company’s credibility so many were shocked to find her switching sides. Jeruza tried her best to be polite while waiting for Pia to make mistakes. Days passed and Jeruza found Pia surprisingly pleasant. Was she the same person? Did she have a hidden agenda? Soon, she saw how dedicated Pia was, and felt bad about her prejudice. Jeruza’s experience taught her to obey and trust her bosses, stop judging and give people a chance to change. Like Jeruza, Ananias was tasked by the Lord to help out Saul, who was a known persecutor of Christians. Ananias had his reservations but he obeyed God. This paved the way for St. Paul to become God’s powerful instrument. Though one has been judged by his misdeeds, we do not know what God has in store for him and what mighty works he will be doing in the future. Carlo Lorenzo (carloflorenzo@yahoo.com) REFLECTION: “Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time.” (Oswald Chambers) Oh God of wisdom, take away the judgment in our heart against people. One’s sins do not define his future. May the conversion of St. Paul inspire us that he was a sinner first before he became a saint. St. Peter Thomas, pray for us. | |
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| | COMPANION | 1st READING Paul’s conversion is an inspiration for many. How could a man as convinced as he was of the rightness of his chosen path, been turned around so dramatically to take the opposite direction? The simple answer is, the truth of the Gospel. Truth, if we open our hearts and minds to it, can inspire virtually anything. Paul discovered this in a way that would change not only his own life but the lives of thousands of others as well. Acts 22:3-16 (or Acts 9:1-22) 3 Paul addressed the people in these words: “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city. At the feet of Gamaliel I was educated strictly in our ancestral law and was zealous for God, just as all of you are today. 4 I persecuted this Way to death, binding both men and women and delivering them to prison. 5 Even the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify on my behalf. For from them I even received letters to the brothers and set out for Damascus to bring back to Jerusalem in chains for punishment those there as well. 6 “On that journey as I drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from the sky suddenly shone around me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ 8 I replied, ‘Who are you, sir?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazorean whom you are persecuting.’ 9 My companions saw the light but did not hear the voice of the one who spoke to me. 10 I asked, ‘What shall I do, sir?’ The Lord answered me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything appointed for you to do.’ 11 Since I could see nothing because of the brightness of that light, I was led by hand by my companions and entered Damascus. 12 “A certain Ananias, a devout observer of the law, and highly spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, 13 came to me and stood there and said, ‘Saul, my brother, regain your sight.’ And at that very moment I regained my sight and saw him. 14 Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors designated you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear the sound of his voice; 15 for you will be his witness before all to what you have seen and heard. 16 Now, why delay? Get up and have yourself baptized and your sins washed away, calling upon his name.’” P S A L M Psalm 117:1, 2 R: Go out to all the world and tell the Good News. 1 Praise the Lord, all you nations; glorify him, all you peoples! (R) 2 For steadfast is his kindness toward us, and the fidelity of the Lord endures forever. (R) GOSPEL Jesus sends out His Apostles to the ends of the earth to proclaim the Gospel to all men and women. Paul is a wonderful example of a man who took this call literally and did everything he could to respond to it. His life is truly an inspiration to all who want to be evangelists. It is important for us to remember that, for Paul, the Gospel is the key to transformation; the Gospel is the truth of our salvation. We should make sure that the essence of the Gospel is never neglected in the Word we proclaim. GOSPEL ACCLAMATION I chose you from the world, to go and bear fruit that will last, says the Lord. Mark 16:15-18 15 Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. 18 They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” LIST think: Just like Paul and the other Apostles, Jesus sends us to the ends of the earth to proclaim the Gospel to all men and women. T O D A Y ’ S BLESSING LIST Thank You Lord for: ____________________________________ _______________________________________________________ God’s special verse/thought for me today________________ _________________________________________________________ READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR John 10-12 GOSPEL PSALM TODAY’S BLESSING LIST | |
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| | SABBATH | Creative Passion Once there was a religious skeptic who ridiculed people who take their faith seriously. He had a neighbor who was a very holy and prayerful woman. Every morning, he would hear her pray aloud her petitions to God. One time, he heard the woman pray for bread. So he decided to put bread at her door, knocked, and hid behind a tree. When the woman opened the door and saw the loaf of bread, she prayed aloud and said, “Thank you, Lord, for this answered prayer!” “You fool,” said the man, “don’t you know I was the one who put bread at your door? I answered your prayer, not God.” The woman calmly retorted, “No, God always answers my prayers, even if sometimes He had to use the devil to answer them.” Today’s First Reading from Acts 22 is a first person account of St. Paul’s conversion, which we celebrate today. Paul himself said, “I persecuted this new way to the point of death. I arrested and imprisoned both men and women.” The same Paul who used to destroy Christ’s Church will be the same Paul who will build it up and make it flourish beyond Israel. More than the personal conversion of Paul, we celebrate today the fact of God’s grace working in and through unworthy instruments. Even after his conversion, Paul would often refer to himself as “the least of all the apostles.” He was a passionate man but his passion was misdirected and destructive. But God redirected his passion. From one who passionately persecuted and killed Christians, he became one who would be persecuted and killed for Christ. That is conversion. When one is converted, what is really changed is the heart of the inner person. Friends, don’t fall into the temptation of thinking that you are not worth anything. You are worth something. On this feast of Paul’s conversion, let us make an inventory of how we have been using the gifts that God has given us. Let us lift them up to God and allow His grace to transform them into positive energies for good. Like Paul, be surprised at what God can do in and through you, to yourself and to others! Fr. Joel Jason REFLECTION QUESTION: How are you using the gifts that God has given you? “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me; I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see. ‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear. And grace, my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed.” | |
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