 | Daily Bible Reflections
for March 9, 2011 |
|  Dear Lordie,
Your Forty-Day Retreat Begins Today. Today is Ash Wednesday. Enter fully the Lenten Forty-Day Retreat confident that God will pour His powerful love upon your life. He will meet you.
God will never leave you. This Wednesday is no different.
Praying for you,
Bo Sanchez
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| | Ash Wednesday LENT God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. – 2 Corinthians 5:21 When I was a child, I used to dread Ash Wednesday. It usually meant more than a month of not being able to eat meat on Fridays, giving up something I really like — chocolates, colored drinks, TV — as a sacrifice for the season. Holy Week was even more grueling: no good TV shows, I wasn’t allowed to stay out late to play, and all our Holy Week traditions. But as I grew up and got to know God better, I found myself learning to appreciate Lent more. I used to think Advent and Christmas mattered more, but now I know that Christmas is just the start of the story. Lent, with Holy Week and Easter, is not only the climax, but the ending as well. What we remember and celebrate during Lent is the crux of our belief. Lent reminds us of how much God loved us by letting His only Son die in our place to save us from our sins. Today is Ash Wednesday and it marks the start of the Lent. May this season be a meaningful one for all of us. Tina Matanguihan (tina.matanguihan@gmail.com) REFLECTION: “Ash Wednesday is our reminder to celebrate the mysterious mercy of a God who would love us this much.” (Liz Kelly) Lord, help me to see You in this Lenten season. | |
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| | COMPANION | 1st READING The first reading for the beginning of a season of penance is one that gives us reason to embrace the penances of Lent – namely, hope in the promises of God, which are made available to us through the resurrection of Jesus, the season’s ultimate focal point. Joel 2:12-18 12 Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; 13 rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God. For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment. 14 Perhaps he will again relent and leave behind him a blessing, offerings and libations for the LORD, your God. 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion! proclaim a fast, call an assembly; 16 gather the people, notify the congregation; assemble the elders, gather the children and the infants at the breast; let the bridegroom quit his room, and the bride her chamber. 17 Between the porch and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep, and say, “Spare, O LORD, your people, and make not your heritage a reproach, with the nations ruling over them! Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ ” 18 Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land and took pity on his people. P S A L M Psalms 51:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14, 17 R: Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned. 1 [3] Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. 2 [4] Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me. (R) 3 [5] For I acknowledge my offense, and my sin is before me always. 4 [6] “Against you only have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight.” (R) 10 [12] A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me. 11 [13] Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy Spirit take not from me. (R) 12 [14] Give me back the joy of your salvation, and a willing spirit sustain in me. 15 [17] O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise. (R) 2nd READING The Season of Lent is one of penance and reconciliation. We should have an eye to these goals as we travel the next seven weeks to Easter and thus prepare ourselves well for the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. Penance and suffering are given meaning through the sacrifice of Jesus. Lent is a time when we are taught this truth in an intensive way. Let us seek to meditate daily on the upcoming Passion of Jesus and thus be drawn more deeply into the life of faith.
2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2 20 Brothers and sisters: We are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. 6: 1 Working together, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says: “In an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. G O S P E L The best penances are the ones no one else knows anything about! Jesus teaches us that the only thing that matters in this regard is that God knows what we are doing and why. There is no virtue in parading our good works before others; this will gain us nothing at all. Penance is an important aspect of the spiritual life as it recognizes our need to repair the damage we have caused through sin. VERSE BEFORE THE GOSPEL If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts. Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 1 Jesus said to his disciples: “Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. 2 When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, 4 so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. 5 When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. 16 When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.” my reflections t h i n k : T he Season of Lent is one of penance and reconciliation. We should have an eye to these goals as we travel the next seven weeks to Easter. 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 Judges 5-8 | |
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| | SABBATH | BEING AMBASSADORS FOR GOD It is a tremendous honor to be appointed as an ambassador of your nation to another country. How much more should we treasure our role as ambassadors for Christ? Admittedly, when we are ambassadors for Christ we do not get the perks that go with the job for our nation, but we do get to know that we are well and truly firming up our entry into the gift of eternal life. The earthly perks and privileges may be nice, but nothing is worth more than eternal life. St. Paul reminds the Corinthian community of their duty to be ambassadors for Christ emphasizing that God speaks through our lives to the rest of the world. We carry within our own bodies, and within the life of our Christian communities, a tremendous truth and blessing —the death of Christ that brings us salvation through the forgiveness of our sins (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:7ff). It is this truth, the Gospel of salvation, to which we are called as ambassadors. Let us seek to acquit ourselves in this role as well as we possibly can. It is as though God is appealing through us because we can interpret this in at least two very different ways. The first is that God is speaking from within us in the spirit of Galatians 2:20 where Paul tells us that it is no longer he that lives but Christ who lives within him. The second is that it is through the general witness of our lives as both individuals and the Christian community that the Gospel goes forth into the world. Either way, it is a privilege to be involved. That there are at least two interpretations indicates the flexibility of the Gospel and the variety of ways in which we can fulfill our roles as ambassadors of Christ. However we want to interpret it, let us be mindful of our role as ambassadors and allow the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us along this path.Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL Reflection Question: How do I understand my role as an ambassador for Christ? Is there anything more I could do to fulfill it more than I have in the past? Jesus, help me to be faithful to my Christian calling so that my life will truly shine forth the message of the Gospel for all to see. St. Anthony, pray for us. | |
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