 | Daily Bible Reflections
for July 31, 2011 |
|  Dear Lordie,
Celebrate God's love through His Word for you this Sunday!
Praying for you,
Bo Sanchez
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| | IN THEIR SHOES Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” – Matthew 14:16 Many events I covered in the past as a reporter included tragedies, deaths, fatal accidents and killings. I did my best to get the job done — interview people, know the facts and get all the sides. But there came a point when I became desensitized. I would ask mourning interviewees or traumatized victims questions with the right words and appropriate tone but I couldn’t feel for them anymore. This bothered me. I prayed for compassion so I could feel again how it was to be in their shoes and be able to minister to them. In today’s Gospel, Jesus wanted His disciples to also learn compassion. They saw the crowd and asked Jesus to tell them to go home because they couldn’t feed them. But Jesus wanted the disciples to realize that these people had waited long hours, ready to stay put for days to listen to Him. It just wouldn’t be right to send them away. Jesus wanted His disciples to give what they had even if they think it wasn’t enough because He could multiply what they had. This the disciples witnessed with the five loaves and two fish that fed thousands. Carlo Lorenzo (carloflorenzo@yahoo.com) 31 REFLECTION: Do I lack compassion? Am I just doing my job but my heart does not go out to the people around me? Do I hold back in giving because I feel inadequate? Father, let Your Spirit search the deepest parts of me. Tell me what I lack. Fill me with confidence to give even when I think I’m not enough. | |
Didache | Companion | Sabbath | Top
| | COMPANION | 1st READING All our bodily desires are a reflection of more profound and powerful spiritual ones. Our thirst for water is a thirst for love; our hunger is a longing for true spiritual nourishment; our sexual urges a longing for union with God. By restraining our bodily desires through fasting, we allow the deeper desires to emerge and then experience how wonderfully God meets these deepest longings. Isaiah 55:1-3 1 Thus says the Lord: All you who are thirsty, come to the water! You who have no money, come, receive grain and eat; come, without paying and without cost, drink wine and milk! 2 Why spend your money for what is not bread; your wages for what fails to satisfy? Heed me, and you shall eat well, you shall delight in rich fare. 3 Come to me heedfully, listen, that you may have life. I will renew with you the everlasting covenant, the benefits assured to David. P S A L M Psalms 145:8-9, 15-16, 17-18 R: The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs. 8 The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. 9 The LORD is good to all and compassionate toward all his works. (R) 15 The eyes of all look hopefully to you, and you give them their food in due season; 16 you open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. (R) 17 The LORD is just in all his ways and holy in all his works. 18 The LORD is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth. (R) 2nd READING St. John of the Cross uses the image of a flame burning in our hearts to describe how God dwells in us through the Holy Spirit. All the trials, hardships, temptations, suffering and pain we endure are the wood that will enkindle the fire of love in our hearts to make it grow greater. Hence, as St. Paul says, nothing can separate us from God’s love since everything can be used to draw us deeper into His love. Romans 8:35, 37-39 35 Brothers and sisters: What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? 37 No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. G O S P E L How often are we faced with situations that are beyond our capacity and resources? Yet this does not excuse us from doing what we can. From this story, we can see that when we offer what we can to the Lord, He can turn our “little” into “much” and meet all the needs. ALLELUIA R: Alleluia, alleluia One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God. R: Alleluia, alleluia Matthew 14:13-21 13 When Jesus heard of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns. 14 When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick. 15 When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 Jesus said to them, “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.” 17 But they said to him, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.” 18 Then he said, “Bring them here to me,” 19 and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over — twelve wicker baskets full. 21 Those who ate were about five thousand men, not counting women and children. my reflections t h i n k : When we offer what we can to the Lord, He can turn our “little” into “much” and meet all the needs. 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 Ecclesiastes 1-4 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 | FROM THE HEART The late Fr. Pascual Adorable, SJ, whom Buklod-Marriage Encounter members lovingly called “Fr. Ado,” loved to repeat in his talks: “It is the love, not only the power, of Jesus that heals us.” The Gospel narrative about Jesus’ miracle of feeding the five thousand validates this. As the evangelist stresses, it was the pity or compassion that Jesus felt in His heart that made Him do the great favor of healing people, teaching them and feeding them. The mind tends to divide, dichotomize, distinguish. The mind argues and justifies. The heart, on the contrary, opens, reaches out, touches, empathizes, sympathizes, understands. Hence, the heart, which many times expresses itself in music and arts, has a universal appeal. It bridges people, regardless of race, color and creed. The heart appeals to our common humanity and, therefore, to human solidarity. Christian ministry is not so much a challenge to preach the Good News through creative and discursive ways. Many a times, the simpler and more humane way of ministry — one that comes from the heart — is what proves effective. People are impressed by ideas but they are moved not by ideas. Passion from the heart is what truly touches people. With a sincere passion, people identify with another’s vision. The scribes and the Pharisees were persons of intelligence and ideas. They were respected and were seen as a group apart. Jesus, on the contrary, spoke about God’s truth from His heart. People began to say, “He speaks with a different authority... not like the scribes and the Pharisees.” Fr. Domie Guzman, SSP Reflection Question: Recall some persons whom you consider as “heart persons.” Recall also some persons who impress you as “head persons.” Compare the impact of their words and works to your life. May my words and works, Lord, always come from my heart and speak of Your love for Your people. St. Neot, pray for us. | |
Didache | Companion | Sabbath | Top
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