 | Daily Bible Reflections
for January 16, 2012 |
|  Dear Lordie,
Conquer this new week with God's Word in your heart!
Praying for you,
Bo Sanchez
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| | AMPAW “Obedience is better than sacrifice…”– 1 Samuel 15:22 When I was a kid I liked ampaw. It’s a sweet delicacy made of puffed rice covered with syrup. The kind that I liked best were those that appeared big with nothing inside but air. This quality may be good for an ampaw but not for people. You see lots of these types today, right? Even in churches and communities. They appear religious outside, but, well... you know what I mean. For them, the outside rituals are more important — how you kneel, how you raise your hand, how you recite your prayers. The people of the law in the Old Testament and many religious leaders during Jesus’ time were of this type. Of course, these practices aren’t bad. The laws, the rites, the rituals are not without purpose. Our Church is rich in symbolism and meaning that it may present to us the God who deserves order and full reverence. When we meet Jesus in heaven I wonder if He would ask us how we did things more than why we did them. Or better, I think He’ll ask us, “What happened to you and to others as you did your good works?” I bet He would be more interested in what’s inside of us than what appears outside. Alvin Barcelona (alvinbarcelona@gmail.com) 16 REFLECTION: Ask yourself: The last time you went to church, did you go out of obligation or love? Dear Lord, receive today my humble sacrifice – a heart whose true desire is to love You more. Amen. St. Bernard and Companions, pray for us. | |
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| | COMPANION | 1st READING Today we learn about the importance of obedience to God’s will. It is not for us to question the will of God or to alter it according to our own tastes or preferences. We simply do whatever He asks us to do. I realize that what Saul was asked to do here seems to be immoral – we have to remember that warfare 3,000 years ago was conducted differently from the way we understand it today according to the Geneva Convention. This is not a reflection on right and wrong but a reflection on the fact that morality is something that has developed in human consciousness over the centuries. Today, we do not stone women caught in adultery, as was the practice then as well. 1 Samuel 15:16-23 16 Samuel said to Saul: “Stop! Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” Saul replied, “Speak!” 17 Samuel then said: “Though little in your own esteem, are you not leader of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king of Israel 18 and sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and put the sinful Amalekites under a ban of destruction. Fight against them until you have exterminated them.’ 19 Why then have you disobeyed the Lord? You have pounced on the spoil, thus displeasing the Lord.” 20 Saul answered Samuel: “I did indeed obey the Lord and fulfill the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought back Agag, and I have destroyed Amalek under the ban. 21 But from the spoil the men took sheep and oxen, the best of what had been banned, to sacrifice to the Lord their God in Gilgal.” 22 But Samuel said: “Does the Lord so delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obedience to the command of the Lord? Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission than the fat of rams. 23 For a sin like divination is rebellion, and presumption is the crime of idolatry. Because you have rejected the command of the Lord, he, too, has rejected you as ruler.” P S A L M Psalm 50:8-9, 16-17, 21, 23 R: To the upright I will show the saving power of God. 8 Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you, for your burnt offerings are before me always. 9 I take from your house no bullock, no goats out of your fold.” (R) 16 “Why do you recite my statutes, and profess my covenant with your mouth, 17 Though you hate discipline and cast my words behind you? (R) 21 “When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it? Or do you think that I am like yourself? I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes. 23 He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me; and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.” (R) GOSPEL Fasting is governed by its social context, not an absolute law of necessity. Fasting has been, is and always will be an element of discipline in the spiritual life as it helps to heighten one’s awareness, spiritually speaking, through avoiding the contented apathy and lethargy of a full stomach. We should seek to develop a pattern or regular discipline of fasting to help us deepen in prayer. We can fast from food, television, the Internet, Facebook, etc. Fasting is a means of giving extra time and attention to our relationship with God. GOSPEL ACCLAMATION The word of God is living and effective, able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. Mark 2:18-22 18 The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast. People came to Jesus and objected, “Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. 20 But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, its fullness pulls away, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse. 22 Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.” LIST think: It is not for us to question the will of God and to alter it according to our own tastes or preferences. We simply do whatever He asks us to do. 1st READING 2nd READING GOSPEL PSALM TODAY’S T O D A Y ’ S BLESSING LIST Thank You Lord for: ____________________________________ _______________________________________________________ God’s special verse/thought for me today________________ _________________________________________________________ READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Luke 7-9 | |
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| | SABBATH | FEASTING AND FASTING I am sure that if you were invited to a wedding party, you would not fast. It would be a terrible offense to the newlyweds and hosts of the celebration. People would look at you strangely and you might have all kinds of unnecessary comments coming your way. The wedding is a feast of life and love. It is a time to feast, not fast. Jesus uses a metaphor of the wedding to describe His presence. He is the Bridegroom and we are the Church, His bride. He has come to wed us to Himself, to God in a nuptial, covenantal relationship. To borrow an Old Testament phrase: “You are my people and I am your God.” John the Baptist also describes Jesus as the Bridegroom. He is the friend who is overjoyed at the arrival of the Bridegroom (John 3:29-30). As it was in Jesus’ day, where wedding celebrations could take days, weddings today are always a cause for rejoicing, feasting and celebration. Jesus says there will be a time when there will be fasting. The Bridegroom will be taken away from them. He was alluding to His passion and death. Jesus comes to bring new life. Every wedding celebration is a feast of new life. Two people become one body. God’s plan of love is fulfilled when man and woman come together in matrimony. A new life of oneness, unity and indissolubility begins. This is also the case with Jesus. He brings new wine that overflows into our hearts through the grace of the Holy Spirit. The old goat skins that hold the wine can no longer be. There is need for new skins, new bones and new bodies to contain the wine of God’s love. Our lives are made new in the marriage of the Lamb, a term borrowed from the Book of Revelation. Jesus, the Lamb of God, has shed His blood and opens a new way for us to God (Revelation 21:9-11, 14:4). Now there is access between God and man through Jesus. Let us open our lives to this new wine that will grow and develop as we mature in the grace of the Spirit. Renewal, revival and restoration abound in Jesus. Let us be open to it. Fr. Brian Steele, MGL REFLECTION QUESTIONS: In what areas of your life do you need the new wine of the Spirit? Is it in your relationships, family ties, work place or mindset? Come, Lord Jesus, and fill me with the wine of Your Spirit. Let me abide by Your teachings of love, peace and justice. Amen. | |
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