 | Daily Bible Reflections
for December 18, 2011 |
|  Dear Lordie,
Grow closer to God this fourth Sunday of Advent!
Each Sunday is a Mini-Easter. Show that Jesus is alive today!
Praying for you,
Bo Sanchez
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| | WHEN GOD SAYS NO “Thus says the Lord: Should you build me a house to dwell in?” – 2 Samuel 7:5 After I resigned from an auditing firm, I applied in one company where the starting salary was high and the benefits were good. Weeks passed but I didn’t get a call from them. So, I decided to apply in a bank. The salary offer didn’t impress me so I tried to negotiate. Although I didn’t get the starting salary I wanted, I accepted the offer and got a job as an audit supervisor. During my first year, I was promoted to officer level and received three salary increases. I was promoted several times more in my 10-year stay there. My friend who worked in the other company for several years told me that she still hadn’t received a salary increase nor a promotion. David wanted to build a “house” for the Lord because the ark of God dwelt in a tent. But God said no. Although He turned down David’s request, He promised to continue the “house” of David forever, which He fulfilled through the coming of Jesus Christ. God said no to my desire to work in the other company because He had something better in store for me. When God says no to our plans, let us trust that He knows what’s best for us. Judith Concepcion (svp_jmc@yahoo.com) 18 REFLECTION: When God says no, do we use the other opportunities He gives us or do we insist on having it our way? Lord, grant me the grace to be sensitive to Your leading, and then to follow You. | |
Didache | Companion | Sabbath | Top
| | COMPANION | 1st READING King David, having established his kingdom and palace, desires to build a house for the Lord, a Temple on the holy Mountain of Zion. Yet God speaks to him through the prophet Nathan that he is not to be the one to build this temple. Rather, God will raise up from David an ancestor who will reign over the Davidic Kingdom forever. This promise was fulfilled with the coming of the Messiah Jesus who is the new and eternal king. 2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8-12, 14, 16 1 When King David was settled in his palace, and the LORD had given him rest from his enemies on every side, 2 he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God dwells in a tent!” 3 Nathan answered the king, “Go, do whatever you have in mind, for the LORD is with you.” 4 But that night the LORD spoke to Nathan and said: 5 “Go, tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: Should you build me a house to dwell in? 8 “’It was I who took you from the pasture and from the care of the flock to be commander of my people Israel. 9 I have been with you wherever you went, and I have destroyed all your enemies before you. And I will make you famous like the great ones of the earth. 10 I will fix a place for my people Israel; I will plant them so that they may dwell in their place without further disturbance. Neither shall the wicked continue to afflict them as they did of old, 11 since the time I first appointed judges over my people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies. The LORD also reveals to you that he will establish a house for you. 12 And when your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins, and I will make his kingdom firm. 14 I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. 16 Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever.’ ” P S A L M Amos 4-6 Psalms 89:2-3, 4-5, 27, 29 R: For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord. 1 [2] The promises of the LORD I will sing forever; through all generations my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness. 2 [3] For you have said, “My kindness is established forever”; in heaven you have confirmed your faithfulness. (R) 3 [4] “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant. 4 [5] Forever will I confirm your posterity and establish your throne for all generations.” (R) 26 [27] “He shall say of me, ‘You are my father, my God, the rock, my savior.’ 28 [29] Forever I will maintain my kindness toward him, and my covenant with him stands firm.” (R) 2nd READING In this final benediction, St. Paul entrusts the Roman Christians into the hands of the eternal Father who has brought about our salvation through the coming of His Son. God, says St. Paul, is the one who can strengthen us. The power at work in us is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead and overcame all the power of the enemy. Let us confidently place our lives and problems in the mighty hands of God who is always there to save and help us. Romans 16:25-27 25 Brothers and sisters: To him who can strengthen you, according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret for long ages 26 but now manifested through the prophetic writings and, according to the command of the eternal God, made known to all nations to bring about the obedience of faith, 27 to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ be glory forever and ever. Amen. G O S P E L When the angel Gabriel reveals to the Virgin Mary that she would become the mother of the Savior of the world, she asks how can this come about. Mary, it seems, had made a vow to remain a virgin even though married to Joseph, so she could not see how God would want her to break this solemn promise. God however honors her vow of virginity and brings about Jesus’ conception not through a human agency but by the power of the Holy Spirit. What may seem impossible to us is not impossible for God, so let us not limit God to our own human perspective. ALLELUIA R: Alleluia, alleluia Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word. R: Alleluia, alleluia 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, full of grace! 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 favor 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 : What may seem impossible to us is not impossible for God, so let us not limit God to our own human perspective. 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 Hebrews 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 | God is with us Last October, a friend invited me to preside over the blessing of his new house, a beautiful and modest one that took almost two years to build as the construction was not planned and the fund was scarce and intermittent. They were among the victims of Ondoy, the powerful typhoon that adversely affected a great number of Filipino families in September 2009. After the blessing, he showed me photos of their old house and his family that he managed to take with a cell phone as Ondoy ravaged their community. One photo caught my attention. They were on the second floor, and the whole family was on top of a table (there were four of them), half submerged in flood water, hoping and praying it would not rise any higher. With a half smile and moist eyes he told me, “Father, I lost everything in that typhoon, but thank God, I still have my treasure.” I remember now an old parable. A man lost everything he had in a terrible typhoon. Distraught, he approached a monk and told him, “I lost everything!” “I’m sorry to hear you lost your faith,” the monk responded. “I did not say I lost my faith,” the man corrected. “Oh, I’m sorry then that you lost your hope,” the monk continued. “I did not lose my hope either,” the man volunteered. The monk then said, “You still have your faith. You still have your hope. Then you did not lose everything. You still have something upon which everything can be built.” My friend’s treasure was his family. I would like to add more. His treasure is his faith and his hope in God. In the midst of a storm, his faith was strong. God was with him. Today, we read from Luke the story of the Annunciation where the angel Gabriel announced to Mary the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy that the “the virgin shall be with child and give birth to a son, and they shall call Him ‘Emmanuel,’ a name which means ‘God is with us.’” Let us hold on to this truth. There will be times this will be challenged or will not be evident. But like Joseph and Mary, let us act on this assurance — He is Emmanuel, God with us.Fr. Joel O. Jason Reflection Question: My friend’s treasure is his family and his faith. What are yours? Pray this in mantra fashion: “The virgin shall be with child and give birth to a son, and they shall call Him Emmanuel.” St. Moses, pray for us. | |
Didache | Companion | Sabbath | Top
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