The Kerygma Family: DIDACHE | COMPANION | SABBATH Daily Bible Reflections for October 16, 2013 This Wednesday, may you hear His voice in your heart! Praying for you, Bo Sanchez PS. Do you live in the Philippines? Sign up for Bos weekly cellphone message. This is FREE. (That is why you have to live in the Philippines to sign up for this service.) Text: BOSEZ__ and send to any of the following numbers: Globe (09178494444); Sun (09228945555) And youll start receiving Bos inspiring message to encourage you, guide you, and bless your week. 16 October Wednesday TODAYS READINGS: DIDACHE BIASED Therefore, you are without excuse, every one of you who passes judgment. — Romans 2:1 Young children have no biases. I’ve seen kids play with other kids just because they are kids. They do not care what their new playmates look like. They can play even if their languages differ. They overlook their differences in the way they dress. They do not ask how much money they have. They do not mind that their families barely know each other or that their fathers have grudges against each other. All they care about is that they have someone to play with. It’s a pity that many grown-ups condemn other people based on what they hear on the news or see on social networks, only to find out that the media just wanted to sell more papers or that a malicious person was great at manipulating digital images. I almost joined a petition against a beauty queen who allegedly said bad things about our country, only to find out that none of it was true. We judge too harshly, too fast. We fail to practice due diligence. We do not exercise restraint and instead unleash the vile from our mouths or the venom from our keyboards. When will we learn not to judge? Jun Asis (mabuting.balita@gmail) Reflection: How many times did you judge someone today? Lord, teach me to withhold my judgment. Allow me to have an open heart and an open mind and to see Your face in everyone I meet. Blessed Marguerite d’Youville, religious, pray for us. COMPANION 1ST READING Paul sets out to demonstrate the universal sinfulness of humanity in order to emphasize our helplessness and need for a Savior. This is of critical importance to his understanding of the nature of salvation — if we are not all sinners, then those who are free of all sin do not need a Savior. This would mean that some do not need a relationship with Jesus for their salvation and, thus, the necessity of the work of the Cross is not universal. Romans 2:1-11 1 You, O man, are without excuse, every one of you who passes judgment. For by the standard by which you judge another you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the very same things. 2 We know that the judgment of God on those who do such things is true. 3 Do you suppose, then, you who judge those who engage in such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you hold his priceless kindness, forbearance, and patience in low esteem, unaware that the kindness of God would lead you to repentance? 5 By your stubbornness and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself for the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God, 6 who will repay everyone according to his works: 7 eternal life to those who seek glory, honor, and immortality through perseverance in good works, 8 but wrath and fury to those who selfishly disobey the truth and obey wickedness. 9 Yes, affliction and distress will come upon every human being who does evil, Jew first and then Greek. 10 But there will be glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, Jew first and then Greek. 11 There is no partiality with God. P S A L M Psalm 62:2-3, 6-7, 9 R: Lord, you give back to everyone according to his works. 1 [2] Only in God is my soul at rest; from him comes my salvation. 2 [3] He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be disturbed at all. (R) 5 [6] Only in God be at rest, my soul, for from him comes my hope. 6 [7] He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be disturbed. (R) 8 [9] Trust in him at all times, O my people! Pour out your hearts before him; God is our refuge! (R) GOSPEL We remember today St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a French saint often credited with the founding of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She is not the only one to have contributed to the development of this devotion. St. John Eudes is another important figure in the history of the Sacred Heart devotion. There is a very beautiful church in Paray-le-Monial where Margaret Mary received a vision of the Sacred Heart, the image of which I find full of vibrancy and joy, and much prefer to the traditional images we see in the statues that we find today. GOSPEL ACCLAMATION My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; I know them, and they follow me. Luke 11:42-46 42 The Lord said: “Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God. These you should have done, without overlooking the others. 43 Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in synagogues and greetings in marketplaces. 44 Woe to you! You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.” 45 Then one of the scholars of the law said to him in reply, “Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.” 46 And he said, “Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.” think: The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus will leave us full of vibrancy and joy. SABBATH FINDING GOD Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan is a Vietnamese cardinal whose cause for beatification is now under way. In the early years of Communist takeover in Vietnam in the 70s, he was incarcerated for 13 years, nine of which were spent in solitary confinement. After he was released, he was exiled to Rome, never to come back to Vietnam, as he was seen as a real threat to stoking the fires of freedom. He eventually became head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. In his account of his years of incarceration, The Road to Hope, he narrated that a friend would smuggle into his cell Mass wine disguised as juice and hosts hidden in a flashlight. He would celebrate Mass inside his cell every day, putting three drops of Mass wine on his left palm and holding the host on the right. Literally, his palms became the chalice and altar of his daily Eucharist. In silence and most of the time in total darkness, his palms were daily purpled by the blood of Christ and his soul fed with His body. He shared, too, that finding God became more important than doing God’s work. He was prevented from doing the work of God — visiting his flock, organizing the diocese, preaching, administering the Sacraments and celebrating the Mass. But being forbidden from “doing” His work did not prevent him from finding God. In today’s Gospel, Jesus warns against the hypocrisy of the Pharisees who daily do the work of God but hardly encounter Him within. While doing the work of God surely will lead us to finding God, the possibility of falling into the trap of ritualism is a real and constant danger in the spiritual life. Let us keep the essential marriage between the work that we do and the reason for doing them — and for whom we do them. Let us not go through our rituals blindly with the robotic disposition of an automaton. Work for God and find Him! Fr. Joel O. Jason REFLECTION QUESTION: In what conscious ways do you dispose yourself for prayer, for Scripture reading, for the Eucharist — for that real encounter with the living God? I am grateful to You, O God, that I am free to engage in Your work. Incline my heart that I may encounter You, the living and true God. Amen!
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 21:00:07 +0000
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