 | Daily Bible Reflections
for December 20, 2011 |
|  Dear Lordie,
God has a great plan for your life?including this Tuesday.
Praying for you,
Bo Sanchez
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| | READY TO RECEIVE? Mary said... “Let it be done to me as you say.” – Luke 1:38 For over 400 years, God made no contact with his people. All they knew about God were stories from the old prophets. There was nothing ever mentioned about a holy spirit. Suddenly, an awesome being appears before Mary telling her about preposterous things! If that happened to me, I would have probably fainted or maybe run away! But not Mary. Her willing response could only mean that her spirit was prepared for such a thing. The Jews had been waiting for the promised Messiah as prophesied, but centuries had passed. Still, there were a handful who believed that God would fulfill His promise. They waited with anticipation and hope. Mary was one of them. Because she trusted God, she was ready to receive. Had she not been ready, she would have probably reacted as Ahaz did in the first reading when he was told to ask for an outrageous sign from God and he refused. God is ready to fulfill all His promises in the Bible. He wants to bless us more than we can ever ask or imagine. The question is, are we prepared to receive everything that God wants to bless us with? Or, are we going to say that we do not deserve such a blessing and miss out on an opportunity of a lifetime? Ronna Ledesma (ronnaledesma@email.com) 20 REFLECTION: If God already sacrificed His only Son just to save us, why are we still struggling to believe that He can give us all things besides? Lord, may my heart genuinely yearn for You, and not for what I can get from You. | |
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| | COMPANION | 1st READING The word Emmanuel is one that we often associate with Christmas as it means “God is with us.” This is what God has intended from the foundation of the world — that He would be a God who dwells among His people. It is not God who has changed but us. Sin has separated us from God and made us want to hide from His presence. Let us make afresh a place in our heart to welcome Emmanuel, the God who wants to be with us always. Isaiah 7:10-14 10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz: 11 “Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God; let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky!” 12 But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!” 13 Then Isaiah said: “Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary men, must you also weary my God? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel. P S A L M Psalms 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 R: Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory. 1 The LORD’s are the earth and its fullness; the world and those who dwell in it. 2 For he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. (R) 3 Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD? Or who may stand in his holy place? 4 He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain. (R) 5 He shall receive a blessing from the LORD, a reward from God his savior. 6 Such is the race that seeks for him, that seeks the face of the God of Jacob. (R) G O S P E L It may seem to come as a surprise that the angel says to Mary, “Do not be afraid.” Here we see that Mary is like us, afraid of this supernatural and wondrous being who has suddenly invaded her life. She is no doubt thinking, “What could he want?” For Mary, the coming of the angel was unexpected and jolted her out of her usual routine. His message was going to totally turn her life upside down. It is then not surprising that she felt some fear and apprehension. Mary is our Mother; she understands our fears as well and can ably support us with her love and prayers. ALLELUIA R: Alleluia, alleluia O Key of David, opening the gates of God’s eternal Kingdom: come and free the prisoners of darkness! R: Alleluia, alleluia Luke 1:26-38 26 In the sixth month, 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 : Sin has separated us from God and made us want to hide from His presence. 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 9-13 | |
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| | SABBATH | Generation “Me” While driving one time, I noticed the bumper sticker of the car in front of me. It said, “Everyone is entitled to MY own opinion.” It is a satire of the well-known original, “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.” But more than a funny satire, I believe it is an illustration of how our world has become what sociologists call the “Generation Me.” In May 2010, a study came out about the level of empathy among young people. It studied generations of students in the US and revealed a significant drop in the capacity to empathize with others beginning the year 2000. From that year on, the respondents were less attracted and responsive to statements like, “I sometimes try to understand my friends better by imagining how things look from their perspective,” and “I often have tender, concerned feelings for people less fortunate than me.” The study opined that technology that brings the world into the palm of one’s hand may have contributed, among many others, to a generation that has the tendency to be competitive, isolated and comfortable at being alone. Genuine compassion didn’t seem to be an attractive value as the findings express. Pity is different from compassion. When one sees a street child, one can feel pity and write a check to an orphanage. Compassion is more than pity. It comes from the Latin cum (with) and pati (to suffer). Therefore compassion is to suffer with. It is a desire to be an equal to the one who has less or is lesser. It moves one to maybe spend a day with the orphans, feeding and taking care of them or volunteering in the soup kitchen project of one’s parish. Today’s Gospel is the Annunciation. At the greeting of the Angel Gabriel and after Mary’s fiat (i.e., “Let it be done unto me…), God, who in Himself is complete and self-sufficient, deigned to be made flesh — to be with humanity, to be among humanity. Christmas is not about a God who felt pity for humanity. It is about a God who is compassion — the God who deigned to be with the people He loves, to suffer with the people He loves. That is what we celebrate at Christmas. Fr. Joel O. Jason Reflection Question: What characterizes your feeling towards the less fortunate, — pity or compassion? Lord Jesus, slowly, draw me and help me to grow in compassion. Amen. St. Julius, pray for us. | |
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