 | Daily Bible Reflections
for April 16, 2012 |
|  Dear Lordie,
Don't be discouraged! God will be with you through this week.
Praying for you,
Bo Sanchez
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| | BORN AGAIN “You must be born from above.” – John 3: 7 “Alvin, are you saved?” A friend who said he was Born Again asked me this question decades ago. Indeed, he was a changed man and recited Bible verses every now and then. I was then a newbie in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and I was a religion teacher, too. I truly felt, believed and experienced that I was saved — by the grace of God, as a renewed Catholic Christian. He wasn’t convinced that I was saved and pursued me relentlessly to become Born Again. I sincerely believe that both my friend and I have been born again. But not only because of a ritual, seminar or affiliation to a group, although these greatly help. I believe we should all be born again every day. We must be renewed and relive our faith on a daily basis. We shouldn’t bank on a ritual we had years ago or even last week. While that may have been a turning point in our life that became our “sacramental takeoff,” the grace we received there needs to be nourished every day. Being born again in the Spirit is keeping that Spirit alive. It is opening ourselves every day to His love and mercy, direction and guidance, miracles and blessings. REFLECTION: Find time to sit down and pause for a while. Close your eyes, breathe deeply, relax and receive the refilling of the Spirit in you. Feel the peace, the joy, the love, the renewal. Come, Holy Spirit, renew the face of the earth as You renew me today. St. Bernadette Soubirous, virgin, pray for us. | |
Didache | Companion | Sabbath | Top
| | COMPANION | 1ST READING If we desire to serve the Kingdom of God and let Him know that this is what we want for our lives, then He will definitely take up our offer of service. I very much doubt whether any of the Apostles knew exactly where their commitment to proclaim the Gospel would take them — Thomas to India and China, Andrew to Greece and so on. Yet, this did not cause them to hold back. They surrendered everything and opened their lives to the Holy Spirit. We must all do the same if we want to live the fullness of our faith. Acts 4:23-31 23 After their release Peter and John went back to their own people and reported what the chief priests and elders had told them. 24 And when they heard it, they raised their voices to God with one accord and said, “Sovereign Lord, maker of heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them, 25 you said by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of our father David, your servant: ‘Why did the Gentiles rage and the peoples entertain folly? 26 The kings of the earth took their stand and the princes gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed.’ 27 “Indeed they gathered in this city against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed, Herod and Pontius Pilate, together with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do what your hand and your will had long ago planned to take place. 29 And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and enable your servants to speak your word with all boldness, 30 as you stretch forth your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 As they prayed, the place where they were gathered shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. P S A L M Psalm 2:1-3, 4-7, 7-9 R: Blessed are all who take refuge in the Lord. 1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples utter folly? 2 The kings of the earth rise up, and the princes conspire together against the Lord and against his anointed: 3 “Let us break their fetters and cast their bonds from us!” (R) 4 He who is throned in heaven laughs; the Lord derides them. 5 Then in anger he speaks to them; he terrifies them in his wrath. 6 “I myself have set up my king on Zion, my holy mountain.” 7 I will proclaim the decree of the Lord. (R) The Lord said to me, “You are my son; this day I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me and I will give you the nations for an inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession. 9 You shall rule them with an iron rod; you shall shatter them like an earthen dish.” (R) GOSPEL Jesus is talking about the power of faith to renew and re-create us in the image and likeness of God. Are we willing to undergo this re-creation? It is one thing to talk about the nature of faith and its consequences; it is entirely another to place our lives under the grace of the Holy Spirit and live it to the full. What do you want for your life – the theory (talk) or the practice (living it)? GOSPEL ACCLAMATION If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. John 3:1-8 1 There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you are doing unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot reenter his mother’s womb and be born again, can he?” 5 Jesus answered, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born of water and Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. 6 What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I told you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8 The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” think: If we desire to serve the Kingdom of God and let Him know that this is what we want for our lives, then He will definitely take up our offer of service. 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 Leviticus 16-183 LIST | |
Didache | Companion | Sabbath | Top
| | SABBATH | SERVANTS WHO SPEAK YOUR WORD Nicodemus was, by any standard, a good man. He was fair, just, inquisitive and genuinely helpful and generous. Beyond that, he was a good listener, open to the truth, and willing enough to be taught or preached to. How many of us can approximate having such an impressive list of traits? He figures three times in the Gospel. The first is what our Gospel passage refers to, when he visits Jesus by night and poses a question to Jesus. The second is when he intervenes with the Sanhedrin and counsels caution with regard to the outlaw Jesus. And the third is when he helped out for the burial of the Lord after the crucifixion. How many of us can outdo him in his magnanimous deeds? But for all his generosity and goodness, there was something that Nicodemus missed out on. He gave away something that most of us would not even think of parting with — his own pre-need “life plan.” The tomb in which Jesus was interred came from his selfless generosity. But I would like to suggest that we all have the possibility to do something more than he did, something that he could never do anymore, and that is to go beyond being a merely good listener, or open-handed and generous, or being fair and just and equitable. We can outdo him in at least one aspect. We can pray as the disciples did after their release from prison: “Enable your servants to speak your word with all boldness!” This, they asked, despite the threats and persecution. This is the missing ingredient as far as Nicodemus is concerned. This is what he missed out on. And this is what we ought never miss — the singular opportunity to be what Christ was, to do what Christ and His disciples did. To be for a waiting, inquisitive and searching world, an answer to their ultimate lifetime search that leads to happiness and fulfillment. Nicodemus did good. But we are called to do better. This we can do by becoming what we pray for — servants who speak God’s Word. Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB REFLECTION QUESTIONS: What is the missing ingredient in your life as a follower of Jesus? Where do you need to improve on? Lord Jesus, shape me and mold me as a real disciple. Empower me to speak Your Word at every opportunity. | |
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