Daily Bible Reflections
for March 6, 2010;

Dear Friend,

Be inspired with His message to you this Saturday!

Praying for you,

Bo Sanchez

6
 March
Saturday
TODAY'S READINGS:

DIDACHE | COMPANION | SABBATH
DIDACHE

 

Our Father
 
“While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him and was filled with compassion.” – Luke 15:20
 
My father was a stern disciplinarian. He would admonish us — sometimes gently, but more often sternly — when we would come home late. But still he would always stay up to wait until all 10 of us children would come home. Sometimes, he would get angry when we didn’t do well in our studies but that spurred me to do better in school. He taught me to be industrious and I had to work as a student to help in the expenses of our big family.
He was also a tower of moral propriety, which he passed on to us through sermons that were sometimes spoken condescendingly. When I reflected at the times when I resented his words, tears would roll down my cheeks in repentance for rejecting his well-meaning sermons. Looking back now, it was the values and character traits he passed on to me that gave me success and integrity.
In many aspects, my dad is my image of God the Father, Abba. God’s words in Scriptures may sometimes come as sharp admonitions but they are wise counsel. His tough love can be painful but it’s a wealthy source of valuable lessons. Our God is a God of discipline but He is also our endearing Abba. Rolly España (rolly@homeliving.com.ph)
 
REFLECTION:
“Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline?” (Hebrews 12:7)
 
Abba, Father, thank You for disciplining us as Your children.
 
 

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COMPANION

 

1st READING
 
God is not really interested in our sins except to remove them from our lives — if we will allow Him to. This is what repentance and conversion (hence the Season of Lent) is all about — letting go of our sins and allowing God to deal with them definitively so that they will no longer be a part of our lives. This sounds like a good deal to me.
 
Micah 7:14-15, 18-20
14 Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, that dwells apart in a woodland, in the midst of Carmel. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old; 15 as in the days when you came from the land of Egypt, show us wonderful signs. 18 Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance; who does not persist in anger forever, but delights rather in clemency, 19 and will again have compassion on us, treading underfoot our guilt? You will cast into the depths of the sea all our sins; 20 you will show faithfulness to Jacob, and grace to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from days of old.
 
P S A L M
 
Psalm 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12
R: The Lord is kind and merciful.
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all my being, bless his holy name. 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. (R) 3 He pardons all your iniquities, he heals all your ills. 4 He redeems your life from destruction, he crowns you with kindness and compassion. (R) 9 He will not always chide, nor does he keep his wrath forever. 10 Not according to our sins does he deal with us, nor does he requite us according to our crimes. (R) 11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has he put our transgressions from us. (R)
 
G O S P E L
 
Let us focus on the love that the Father has for both of His sons despite their sinfulness. It may seem that the younger is the greater sinner and that may even be the case, but the important thing is not to focus on the sin but upon the Father’s response — forgiveness and love. This is the way God wants to relate to us, so that no matter what our sins may be, we should be ready to repent and allow His love and forgiveness to transform us.
 
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
1 The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, 2 but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3 So to them he addressed this parable. 11 “A man had two sons, 12 and the younger son said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’ So the father divided the property between them. 13 After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation. 14 When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need. 15 So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine. 16 And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any. 17 Coming to his senses he thought, “How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger. 18 I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.” ’ 20 So he got up and went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. 21 His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.’ 22 But his father ordered his servants, ‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, 24 because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.’ Then the celebration began. 25 Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. 26 He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean. 27 The servant said to him, ‘Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ 28 He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him. 29 He said to his father in reply, ‘Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. 30 But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’ 31 He said to him, ‘My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. 32 But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ ”
 
my reflections
t h i n k : No matter what our sins may be, we should be ready to repent and allow His love and forgiveness to transform us.
_________________________________________________________

God’s special verse/thought for me today________________
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T O D A Y ’ S BLESSING LIST
Thank You Lord for: ____________________________________
_______________________________________________________
 
READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Genesis 1-3  
 
 

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SABBATH

 

Temptation for the Good Ones
The elder son, faced with the extravagant welcome extended by the father to the returning young son, felt that he was the victim of injustice. By his own words, the elder son described his life as a life of obedience to, hard work for, and duty towards his father. Despite our Christian bias against them when we read the Gospels, the Pharisees were also like the elder son. They were lawyers who were loyal in defending the Law and the rightful worship of Yahweh amidst the many pagan incursions that came with various foreign invaders of Israel and the Holy City of Jerusalem.
The Pharisees had an illustrious past. They were first mentioned as a Jewish group around 200 B.C. during the reign of Jonathan, a descendant of Judas Maccabees. It is said that they were spiritually descended from the “Hasidims” (meaning godly people) who banded together and encouraged one another in the study and practice of the Sacred Law of Moses amidst the moral and religious decline (cf. 1 Maccabees 2:42; 7:14; also 2 Maccabees 14:6). Their passionate devotion to God and His Law made them true patriots who fought on the side of the Maccabeans against the Seleucids and against all other pagan foreign incursions into Israel. Their ability to resonate with the sentiments of the people made the Pharisees an influential group. The Sadducees who formed the majority group in the Sanhedrin (Jewish supreme council) were obliged to respect their views.
The Pharisees and the elder son in Jesus’ parable were good persons. They had some big problems, though: it made them intolerant of others’ weakness. Their strictness about justice made them impose a claim for their goodness before God. They bound God to their own terms, and they forgot that God’s will and ways are supreme above all human standards. They forgot that amidst our goodness and uprightness, before God we remain to be all creatures who can only invoke God’s grace and mercy. Fr. Domie Guzman, SSP
 
 
Reflection Question:
Were there instances when we felt like the “elder son” before God? When did you also feel that God’s ways are “unjust” amidst your own honest and sincere efforts to goodness and right? Spend time reconciling with God.
 
Forgive me, Lord, for the times I considered myself short-changed for all that I have given You. Make me humble, Lord.
 
St. Baldred, pray for us.
 

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