 | Daily Bible Reflections
for October 24, 2010 |
|  Dear Lordie,
Celebrate God's love through His Word for you this Sunday!
Praying for you,
Bo Sanchez
| | THE COMPARISON GAME “The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity — greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector. I pay tithes on my whole income.’” – Luke 18:11-12 Jesus just had to say this story. Because one game show is simply topping the ratings: The Comparison Game! This Game is so popular because it helps you to feel better about yourself. You may be flunking way below the standards but you’re still better than a lot of other people. So you must be good enough. Jesus says this Game doesn’t work. First, the game is always “fixed” so you get to choose your own competition. Never mind if you didn’t win a single game in the Barangay Seniors Basketball League last year. If you want to feel good and finally dunk on someone, just pick the home for the aged basketball team as your next opponent. Second, the issue is never beyond “you.” Imagine a person on trial who says, “Judge, I admit to committing the murder. But I just killed one. I’m not a serial murderer like some people. That should count for something!” Friend, the question isn’t what somebody else did.When you’re the one on trial, any comparisons you make is beside the point. Friend, it’s time to stop playing the game. Jon Escoto (faithatworkjon@gmail.com) REFLECTION: Are you still playing the Comparison Game? Cut it out. It never works! Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. | |
Didache | Companion | Sabbath | Top
| | COMPANION | 1st READING24 We may or may not get justice from human courts; we can be sure that we will get it on Judgment Day when the just Judge, God, will preside over the judgment of the lives of all who have lived. Unfortunately some people will not receive justice in this life due to the corruption and sin of others. The only consolation they have is that God sees all that is done and knows the hearts of all people. Sometimes we have to wait until death before we will see true justice. Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18 12 The LORD is a God of justice, who knows no favorites. 13 Though not unduly partial toward the weak, yet he hears the cry of the oppressed. 14 The LORD is not deaf to the wail of the orphan, nor to the widow when she pours out her complaint; 16 The one who serves God willingly is heard; his petition reaches the heavens. 17 The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal, 18 nor will it withdraw till the Most High responds, judges justly and affirms the right, and the Lord will not delay. P S A L M Psalm 34:2-3, 17-18, 19, 23 (7a) R: The Lord hears the cry of the poor. 1 [2] I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall be ever in my mouth. 2 [3] Let my soul glory in the LORD; the lowly will hear me and be glad. (R) 16 [17] The LORD confronts the evildoers, to destroy remembrance of them from the earth. 17 [18] When the just cry out, the LORD hears them, and from all their distress he rescues them. (R) 18 [19] The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; and those who are crushed in spirit he saves. 22 [23] But the LORD redeems the lives of his servants; no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in him. (R) 2nd READING Paul knows that his death is near. He is not at all worried by this piece of knowledge, as he is sure that he has done the best he could in serving the Gospel. Yes, maybe there were times when he realized he could or should have done things a bit differently, but that is true for us all. None of us is perfect yet. He is sure that he has done his best. Let us pray that when we approach death we will have a similar assurance and be satisfied that we have accomplished all God has asked us to do. 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18 6 Beloved: I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. 8 From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance. 16 At my first defense no one appeared on my behalf, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them! 17 But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen. G O S P E L The only thing we should really take pride in for is our obedience to the will of God — and even this is a gift to us from God, a result of His grace. We should be proud of ourselves when we stand for the truth and cooperate with God’s grace in our lives. We should always resist the thought that we did it under our own strength because this is a lie. True prayer and true humility come only from lives of obedience to God’s will. Let us seek to be an example of this to others. Luke 18:9-14 9 Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. 10 “Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity — greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’ 13 But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ 14 I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” my reflections t h i n k : True prayer and true humility come only from obedience to God’s will. _________________________________________________________
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 Isaiah 5-8 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 ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ | |
Didache | Companion | Sabbath | Top
| | SABBATH | The Heart Of the Matter Is The Matter Of The Heart This scene is a good example of understanding God’s justice. The incident reveals the true essence of serving the Lord. Actions are good, but the best intentions should be its source. Repentance is the sacrifice (offering) most pleasing to God, while humility brings us to our true place with Him. The sharp contrast of the attitudes of the Pharisee and the tax collector in the temple provides us a clearer idea of our responsibility and how we can attain God’s justice (the Kingdom). The Pharisee took a good position in the temple, praised himself and even measured himself against the tax collector. Lastly, he reminded God about his accomplishments by mentioning his acts of fasting and tithing. He gives us the idea that God owed him a reward for what he had done. Meanwhile, the tax collector situated himself as far away from God as he could. He would not even raise his eyes to heaven, and he beat his chest and prayed. He showed an attitude of utmost humility. He felt unworthy and in dire need of forgiveness. For Jesus, the tax collector went home justified while the Pharisee did not. Does this mean that all of the good things the Pharisee had done were for naught? No. His actions were good per se. Unfortunately, for him, the Lord did not only consider the act but also the heart that went with it. God’s justice was fulfilled in the tax collector. He may have not done much good but he gave more heart. By being humble and very contrite, he gained the respect and mercy of God. By opening his heart to God, he made it possible for God’s grace of forgiveness to enter. The beauty of this is that God’s justice is available to all of us at all times. God may have made each one of us unique, but He created all of us with a heart — one where His words have been inscribed, where He dwells and constantly prods us to follow His Will, where we can always find His wonderful presence. It does not matter to God whether we are rich or poor, powerful or powerless, white or black, woman or man, priest or lay, educated or not. Our heart’s desires and actions determine our worthiness of God’s justice. Fr. Benny Tuazon Reflection Question: How sincere are you in doing acts of charity? Do you give to help, or do you do it out of responsibility and for show? Are there times when you believe that God does not see what is in your heart? Dearest Lord, teach me to be generous and to serve You as I should. St. Joseph Thi, pray for us. | |
Didache | Companion | Sabbath | Top
| | Find one near you!
PICC Sunday (2 sessions) 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. 10:45 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. PICC, Roxas Blvd. Feast Builder: Bo Sanchez Pasig Sunday (2 sessions) 10:00 a.m. - 12 noon 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Valle Verde Country Club (beside The ULTRA) Feast Builders: George Gabriel and Obet Cabrillas Quezon City Sunday 9:00 a.m. - 12 n.n. Convention Hall, Bureau of Soils, Visayas Ave., Q.C. Feast Builder: Eng Si Alabang Sunday (3 sessions) 11:00 a.m - 1:00 p.m. 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. 2/L X-site Entrance, Festival Mall, Alabang Tel. No. 659-8299
Feast Builder: Arun Gogna
Laguna 9:00 a.m. - 12 n.n. SM Sta. Rosa, Laguna Feast Builders: Hermie Morelos & Jon Escoto Rizal Sunday 9:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Valley Fair Arcade, Ortigas Ext. Taytay, Rizal Feast Builder: Pio Espanol
Bustos Sunday 2:30 p.m - 5:30 p.m. San isidro labrador Parish, Liciada, Bustos Feast Builder: Chito Manaois Valenzuela Sunday 1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Cinema 1, SM Valenzuela Feast Builder: Eng Si Contact no. 09175789554 Ortigas Monday 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Roofdeck, Prestige Tower, F. Ortigas Ave., Pasig City
Feast Builder: Vic Espanol Makati Thursday, 7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. AIM Conference Center, Benavidez cor Paseo de Roxas Feast Builder: Randy Borromeo Manila Friday, 7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Cinema 4, SM Manila (near City Hall), Manila Feast Builder: Obet Cabrillas Angeles 1st & 3rd Friday, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. Angeles City Library, Angeles City Feast Builder: Marvin Tan Marilao (2 sessions) Saturday, 5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Cinema 2, SM Marilao, Bulacan Feast Builder: Alvin Barcelona Baliuag Saturday 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Cinema 1, Baliuag, Bulacan Feast Builder: Chito Manaois Contact no. 09174358746/09228190198 Cardona Saturday 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Queen Mary Help of Christians Hospital, National Road, Calahan, Cardona CEBU 1st & 3rd Sunday of each month
9:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. University of San Carlos North Campus, Mango Ave., Cebu City Feast Builder: Oscar Alino Contact nos. 4128142/09212413801/09232908009 DAVAO Sunday 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Labrecque Hall, San Pedro College, C. de Guzman St.,Davao City Feast Builder: Jing Sto. Domingo Contact nos. 0822865081/0922251822
2. Wake up to the new KERYGMA TV! on TV5! On a new time slot - Sundays 6-7 a.m. PLUS... MUSTARD (for kids) Saturdays 6-7 a.m FISHBOWL (for the youth) Saturdays 7-8 a.m. 3. Need Counseling? Call a friend for counseling at 09228407031, 7266728, 7264709, and 7259999 Mon-Fri 24-hrs, Sat 6am-5pm, Sun 6am-10am. 4. Free Kerygma Magazine (the one on paper) from Bo. If you're a KerygmaFamily member who regularly supports this ministry with at least P300 or US$20 a month - you'll be receiving a one-year subscription of the KerygmaMagazine in the mail-automatically! If you haven't signed up for KerygmaFamily, join now!
http://www.kerygmafamily.com 5. Its now easy to DONATE using the new GlobeTelecom GCASH at http://kerygmafamily.com.
6. DONATE using SMART MONEY - type KFAM_amount and send to 270 7. Put Preacher in Blue Jeans in your Blog or Friendster! Just copy the text in under next to the EMBED keyword under the video. Just like YOUTUBE! 8. Did you receive this email from someone else? To get Bo Sanchez to send it to you personally, log-on to http://kerygmafamily.com.
Lots of surprises await. 9. To change your KerygmaFamily member/email settings. Please click here 10. To enter the Audio & Video Teachings, Please click here 11. Forward these to your friends - so they too can read God's Word and be invited to join the KerygmaFamily. They'll Thank you for opening this mountain of blessings to them! 12. Contact Person: Tina (+632) 9312711 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (+632) 9312711 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or + 639178424101 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting + 639178424101 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or support@kerygmafamily.com
|
No response to “Lordie, God's Message For You Today, October 24, 2010”
Post a Comment