 | Daily Bible Reflections
for December 8, 2010 |
|  Dear Lordie,
His light is shining on you this Wednesday.
Praying for you,
Bo Sanchez
| | Solemnity of Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary THE BEGINNING OF GREAT FAITH “Nothing will be impossible for God.” – Luke 1:37 I really, really, really wanted her to be my prom date. She was a member of our community. I asked her during one prayer meeting and she told me she had to get permission from her dad. He was strict — really strict. While waiting for the next prayer meeting the following week, I prayed like anything. I came across the exact same verse above, “Nothing is impossible with God.” I highlighted it… and put my trust in Him. (Yes, for a 15-year-old, this was a very big deal.) The following week, she said her father said yes. And I was a happy man. Well, a happy boy. I know this may seem like a shallow story but it was the start of how I learned to truly trust God with my “impossible” situations. A famous director once told me, “When you pray, ask God for the impossible — because that’s the least He’ll do for you. The possible things, He leaves up to us.” George Tolentino Gabriel (george.svp@gmail.com) REFLECTION: Do I put limits on what God can do for me? Lord, help me to believe in You totally. | |
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| | COMPANION | 1st READING Mary is preserved from original sin in order that her womb is a fitting dwelling place for the Son of God. However, the focus should not be Mary, but the child of her womb. It is Jesus who is the redeemer of all humanity; it is Jesus who is the Son of God; it is only by the grace of what Jesus will do that Mary can be free from sin in the first place. I am sure as sure can be that Mary would be the first to say that Jesus ought to be the focus and not her. Genesis 3:9-15, 20 9 After the man, Adam, had eaten of the tree, the LORD God then called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?” 10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.” 11 Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!” 12 The man replied, “The woman whom you put here with me- she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it.” 13 The LORD God then asked the woman, “Why did you do such a thing?” The woman answered, “The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it.” 14 Then the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you shall be banned from all the animals and from all the wild creatures; on your belly shall you crawl, and dirt shall you eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.” 20 The man called his wife Eve, because she became the mother of all the living. P S A L M Psalm 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4 R: Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds. 1 Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done wondrous deeds; his right hand has won victory for him, his holy arm. (R) 2 The LORD has made his salvation known in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice. 3 He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel. (R) All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God. 4 Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands; break into song; sing praise. (R) 2nd READING The glory and wonder of Creation is surpassed by only two things, the sinless Mother of God and her Son Jesus Christ. How all this comes together in the birth of Jesus is truly a mystery and something for the angels to sing about for a long time. It is also a mystery over which we should rejoice, as the holiness of Mary becomes an example for what we, too, can be if we surrender all to Jesus. Let us never underestimate the power of God to change our lives. Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12 3 Brothers and sisters: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, 4 as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love 5 he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, 6 for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved. 11 In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the one who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, 12 so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ. G O S P E L One of the things that we have to be careful of when we give honor to Mary is that we do not displace Jesus from His rightful place as Lord of our lives. Very subtly our focus can be shifted so that Mary gets too much attention and we miss the real power available through faith in Jesus. Yes, Mary is a powerful intercessor — there is none more powerful. But Jesus is It — He is the power; it is through Him that everything in our lives of faith is done. Luke 1:26-38 26 The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. 31 Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, 33 and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” 35 And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. 36 And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; 37 for nothing will be impossible for God.” 38 Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her. my reflections t h i n k : One of the things that we have to be careful of when we give honor to Mary is that we do not displace Jesus from His rightful place as Lord of our lives. 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 Daniel 1-3 | |
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| | SABBATH | MARY, GOD ’S MASTERPIECE Today is the only other holiday of obligation for us Catholics in the Philippines, aside from Christmas and the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. This is just rightly so, for we Filipinos are indeed “unpueblo amante de Maria” (a Maryloving people.) In any case — as it is often said when it comes to Mary — it is never enough. Meaning to say, our devotion to her should certainly go beyond obligation or duty; it is a devotion born out of sincere love and gratitude. For if we honor Jesus Christ, what is to keep us from honoring, too, the very mother herself who gave birth to Him? Anything we offer to the Blessed Virgin Mary by way of praise, honor, veneration and supplication does in no way detract from our relationship with Jesus Christ, our Lord. At the same time, if we let Mary fulfill her primary purpose of bringing us to her Son, that would be ideal and in keeping with a balanced Catholic perspective. As God’s masterpiece, Mary in fact epitomizes grace and balance. In her, what we might deem confusion and contradiction is really the blend of mystery. Suffused with grace and wisdom, a crucial part of the history of our salvation is in fact the interplay between God’s grace and Mary’s free cceptance. St. Anselm brilliantly captures this in this passage from a sermon of his: “God... is the Father of the created world and Mary the mother of the re-created world. God is the Father by whom all things were given life, and Mary the mother through whom all things were given new life. For God begot the Son, through whom all things were made, and Mary gave birth to him as the Savior of the world. Without God’s Son, nothing could exist; without Mary’s Son, nothing could be redeemed.” Holiday of obligation or not, therefore, we never let a single day in our lives pass without thinking of and honoring our Blessed Mother. And from the fullness of mystery and the balance of perspective, we honor her and sing her praises. Fr. Martin Macasaet, SDB Reflection Question: As a Catholic, how do you regard the Blessed Mother? How often do you seek her intercession in prayer? O Blessed Mother of God, watch over me every day and lead me to the love of your Son, my Lord, Jesus Christ. St. Romaric, pray for us. | |
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