Daily Bible Reflections
for May 2, 2009;

Dear Friend,

This Saturday, follow the Spirit of God leading you.

Praying for you,

Bo Sanchez

2
 May
Saturday
TODAY'S READINGS:

DIDACHE | COMPANION | SABBATH
DIDACHE

 

CARRY ON OR WALK AWAY?
 
“Do you also want to leave?” – John 6:67
 
“You have to have the right reason,” said the facilitator during her presentation about migrating to another country. “There is no turning back once you are there. You will have to embrace everything about the new place,” she added.
Many times, in our Christian life, we stumble upon roadblocks that prompt us to decide whether or not we will continue our walk with Jesus. And just like making a decision about migrating to another country, we have to have the right reason and disposition for wanting to follow Christ. Otherwise, we will fail and backslide. The road ahead may be rough and many may opt to turn back. Is our faith strong enough to continue with the journey no matter what? Or will we to follow the crowd? Jane Gonzales
 
REFLECTION:
God bless the man who has been tested by fire, but never gave up and stood up again.
 
Father, hold me close to Your heart when my faith is put to the test. Let my eyes be fixed on the things of heaven and help me to persevere despite the hurdles. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
 

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COMPANION

 

1st READING
 
The miracles worked both by Jesus and His apostles served to draw attention to the Gospel being proclaimed, not the person performing the miracles. The same ought to be true of our use of the gifts of the Holy Spirit — we need to ensure that the glory that comes with the gifts of the Spirit is always directed to God. As soon as we allow ourselves to receive it, we will endanger our own humility and ultimately the effectiveness of our proclamation.
 
Acts 9:31-42
31 The church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria was at peace. It was being built up and walked in the fear of the Lord, and with the consolation of the holy Spirit it grew in numbers. 32 As Peter was passing through every region, he went down to the holy ones living in Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been confined to bed for eight years, for he was paralyzed. 34 Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed.” He got up at once. 35 And all the inhabitants of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. 36 Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which translated means Dorcas). She was completely occupied with good deeds and almsgiving. 37 Now during those days she fell sick and died, so after washing her, they laid [her] out in a room upstairs. 38 Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, “Please come to us without delay.” 39 So Peter got up and went with them. When he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs where all the widows came to him weeping and showing him the tunics and cloaks that Dorcas had made while she was with them. 40 Peter sent them all out and knelt down and prayed. Then he turned to her body and said, “Tabitha, rise up.” She opened her eyes, saw Peter, and sat up. 41 He gave her his hand and raised her up, and when he had called the holy ones and the widows, he presented her alive. 42 This became known all over Joppa, and many came to believe in the Lord.
 
P S A L M
 
Psalm 116:12-13. 14-15. 16-17
R: How shall I make a return to the Lord for all the good he has done for me?
 
12 How shall I make a return to the LORD for all the good he has done for me? 13 The cup of salvation I will take up, and I will call upon the name of the LORD. (R) 14 My vows to the LORD I will pay in the presence of all his people. 15 Precious in the eyes of the LORD is the death of his faithful ones. (R) 16 O LORD, I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your handmaid; you have loosed my bonds. 17 To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving, and I will call upon the name of the LORD. (R)
 
G O S P E L
 
The question we have to reflect upon here is: ‘Why did so many of Jesus’ disciples leave Him?’ It seems to me that, yes, it was a difficult task to follow Jesus, but we all realize that committing ourselves to anything, especially a new cause or message, is not going to be easy! Perhaps they were even looking for the slightest excuse to leave? I do not know; all I know is that I want to follow Jesus and I need the grace of the Holy Spirit to be faithful to this desire and call. Holy Spirit, keep my eyes fixed on the goal and not the difficulties I face in achieving it.
 
John 6:60-69
60 Many of his disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” 61 Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, “Does this shock you? 62 What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. 65 And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.” 66 As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no
longer accompanied him. 67 Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”
 
my reflections
think: Holy Spirit, keep my eyes fixed on the goal and not the difficulties I face in achieving it.
 
_________________________________________________________

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 Leviticus 16-18
 
 

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SABBATH

 

the lAnGuAGe oF Discipleship
 
In today’s Gospel, we hear many say that what Jesus is asking of them is too much — His language is intolerable to them! I wonder if this is also true for us at times? I am sure we have all experienced that sense where we believe God is asking something of us but we decided not to do it because the cost is too great or we cannot see how it will be worth it to follow His word. For whatever reason we may have acted, we have placed ourselves in the company of those who cry out that Jesus’ words are intolerable to their ears in today’s Gospel.
The question I want us all to reflect upon is, “What did we expect?” Did we think that following Jesus was going to be easy? That it was going to be without challenges and difficulties? It seems to me that in any task we take on in life, there will be at least one aspect of it that we do not like or we find difficult. This is the way life is! We cannot avoid these sorts of experiences. The question that we really need to answer is, “Do we believe that the cost Jesus asks us to make when becoming His disciple is worth it?” That is, is the promise of eternal life worth the price that Jesus asks us to pay? I think it is! In fact, there is no price too great that is not worth the promise of eternal life. Think about it. Any difficulty, trouble or suffering you may be called to endure is going to be finite in its reality; eternal life is exactly that — eternal — that is, without end.
It is obvious to the logician that if the premises of the argument above are true, then the conclusion is also true as it follows logically from the premises. I wonder if we truly believe in the promises of God or do we treat them in much the same way as most earthbound promises? That is, with a healthy degree of skepticism as human beings have demonstrated themselves to be somewhat unreliable. However, we are dealing with God here, not just human beings! Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL
 
Reflection Question:
Do I believe Jesus’ promise of eternal life to all who follow Him?
 
Holy Spirit, open my heart to the truth of all the promises of Jesus. I want to believe in them all and have them all alive and active in my life so that I will experience the fullness of grace that God offers me.          
 
St. Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor, pray for us.
 

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