Daily Bible Reflections
for August 3, 2008
;

Dear Friend,

Each Sunday is a Mini-Easter. Show that Jesus is alive today!

Praying for you,

Bo Sanchez



3
August
Sunday
TODAY'S READINGS:

DIDACHE | COMPANION | SABBATH
DIDACHE

 

JESUS’ SILENCE
 
Jesus… withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself…When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for
them, and he cured their sick. – Matthew 14:13, 14
 
I have moments when I really don’t want to talk. I go to the office and, after a polite smile, I go to my desk and live in my own world. Or sometimes, I’m so immersed in my task that I hardly notice what’s happening around me. There were other silent moments, too, when I was angry and trying to still the tempest within, or I was too tired and hardly had the energy to speak.
Many of my moments of silence, I knew, were not always good. I had to ask God for forgiveness for the selfish and terrible thoughts racing through my mind during those times.
It’s a good thing that Jesus’ silence is always good. Even during the times that He wanted to be alone, He took pity on the crowd that followed Him.
When Jesus seems silent in our lives, let’s remember that He doesn’t ignore our prayers and our supplications. Unlike me, His is never a selfish silence.
May Jesus make us like Him even in our times of quiet. Joy Sosoban
 
REFLECTION:
“There are times when silence has the loudest voice.” (Leroy Brownlow)
 
Make my silence, Lord, like Yours — unselfish and merciful.
 

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COMPANION

 

1st READING
 
This middle section of Isaiah’s prophecy is full of hope and expectation of the blessing of God. The promise of a return from exile is strong and the people are looking forward to returning to their own land and the blessings it stands for in their history. We should reflect upon our own lives and see the invitation to draw deeply from the blessings of the Lord and respond as we so desire, hopefully with generosity.
 
Isaiah 55:1-3
1 Thus says the LORD: All you who are thirsty, come to the water! You who have no money, come, receive grain and eat; come, without paying and without cost, drink wine and milk! 2 Why spend your money for what is not bread; your wages for what fails to satisfy? Heed me, and you shall eat well, you shall delight in rich fare. 3 Come to me heedfully, listen, that you may have life. I will renew with you the everlasting covenant, the benefits assured to David.
 
P S A L M
 
Psalm 145:8-9, 15-16, 17-18
R: The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.
8 The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. 9 The LORD is good to all and compassionate toward all his works. (R) 15 The eyes of all look hopefully to you, and you give them their food in due season; 16 you open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. (R) 17 The LORD is just in all his ways and holy in all his works. 18 The LORD is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth. (R)
 
2nd READING
 
St. Paul reflects upon the undying faithfulness of the Lord in Romans 8. This chapter is almost like a hymn to the praises of God and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Life to the full is a product of life under the grace of the Spirit. Let us draw strength and courage from Paul’s confidence in God’s goodness and so surrender ourselves totally to the Lord.
 
Romans 8:35, 37-39
35 Brothers and sisters: What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? 37 No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
 
G O S P E L
 
Jesus recognizes the present need of the people and responds to it as only He can with the multiplication of the food. It is as though Jesus wants to affirm to us that He has any and every situation in hand. There is nothing that He cannot handle and that we are to rest, relax and watch Him act. This does not mean that we are to presume God will do everything for us but I do think we can assume that He will play His part in all we have to do. It is simply a matter of trust and faith; doing what we can and trusting He will make up for what is lacking.
 
Matthew 14:13-21
13 When Jesus heard of it, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns. 14 When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick. 15 When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 [Jesus] said to them, “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.” 17 But they said to him, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.” 18 Then he said, “Bring them here to me,” 19 and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over — twelve wicker baskets full. 21 Those who ate were about five thousand men, not counting women and children.
 
my reflections
think:Life to the full is a product of life under the grace of the Spirit.
 
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God’s special verse/thought for me today________________
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T O D A Y ’ S BLESSING LIST
Thank You Lord for: ____________________________________
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READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR 2 Maccabees 9-10
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
________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
 
 

 

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SABBATH

 

hE MUst bE sMilinG
 
I smile whenever I read the Gospel for today. The disciples recognized a problem: there were so many people and the food was in shortage. Notice that not that there was no food but that the food was not enough for all. It even seemed like the disciples tried to hide from Jesus the fact that they had food with them. Thus, their advice to Jesus
was to dismiss the crowd. When shortage is real, the temptation to  horde is very real.
However, Jesus, from whom we cannot hide anything, addressed the problem by making the disciples address the problem themselves. “There is no need to send them away. Give them something to eat yourselves,” said Jesus (Jesus must be smiling deep inside when He said this). When the problem is so real, escaping from it becomes an easy option.
Shame must have covered the hearts, not only the faces, of the disciples as Jesus taught them that the answer to shortage is generosity and that problems are better confronted with childlike trust in Divine Providence rather than brushing them aside with the force of human inadequacies. We are no better than the disciples, are we?
Jesus looks straight in our eyes today as we reflect on His Living Word. His gaze is steady and His voice plain: “Is it true that there is not enough to share or it is more accurate that there is little generosity to show? Are you really aiming to solve the problem with My help or are you really trying to escape from it with your fears?”
We cannot hide anything from the Lord. Let us be honest with our answers.
Smile! He is opening our hearts for another miracle.
You are that miracle.
Smile! Fr. Bobby Titco
 
Reflection Question:
There is enough in the world for everyone’s need but not for everyone’s greed.
 
When fear strikes my heart, O Jesus, for any kind of inadequacy, hold me tightly and help me face the  problem with childlike trust in the Father through You. When what I have is just enough for myself, do not allow me to hoard my blessings from others. Open my heart and make me another miracle in and from Your n hands. Amen.
 
St. Trea, hermitess, pray for us.
 

 

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