Daily Bible Reflections
for July 7, 2012;

Dear Friend,

This Saturday, let God give you rest in His Spirit.

Praying for you,

Bo Sanchez

7
 July
Saturday
TODAY'S READINGS:

DIDACHE | COMPANION | SABBATH
DIDACHE

 

NEW WINE
 
“They pour new wine into new wineskins…” – Matthew 9:17
 
I grew up in a Catholic family. I studied in a Catholic school from nursery to college. I learned things about God. I knew Him, or so I thought.
When I joined the Light of Jesus Family, my spiritual community, I did not only learn more about God, I also came to know Him personally.
I compare my old way of thinking to old wine and my new way of thinking to new wine.
My old way of thinking states: If I were good, I’d go to heaven. If I were bad, I’d go to hell. When I sin, I have to repent and ask forgiveness first, then God would forgive me. He is distant and is always waiting to catch me do something wrong so He could punish me.
My new way of thinking states: God loves me even before I do anything good. He never stops loving me even when I do wrong. When I sin, God forgives me first and His love moves me to repent and change, just like in the story of the prodigal son.
God is near. He dwells in me. He wants to have a personal relationship with me.  Meann Tee (meanntytee@yahoo.com)
7
REFLECTION:
How well do you know our God? Do you have the right image of God? Get to know Him better.
 
Father, I want to know who You really are. Reveal Yourself to me as I seek You.
 
Blessed Emmanuel Ruiz and Companions, pray for us.
 

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COMPANION

 

1ST READING  
 
Amos is not all doom and gloom. There is also the promise of restoration. The real question is: “When exactly is this time of restoration and how will it express itself?” The real restoration and blessing that all the prophets refer to is the promise of eternal life. Yes, we may have foretastes of it before then, but the only true and lasting blessing is that of eternal life. In this sense, we should welcome death when it comes because it marks the end of all imperfection in our lives and the beginning of the fullness of the experience of God’s blessing.
 
Amos 9:11-15
11 Thus says the Lord: On that day I will raise up the fallen hut of David; I will wall up its breaches, raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old, 12 that they may conquer what is left of Edom and all the nations that shall bear my name, say I, the Lord, who will do this. 13 Yes, days are coming, says the Lord, when the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the vintager, him who sows the seed; the juice of grapes shall drip down the mountains, and all the hills shall run with it. 14 I will bring about the restoration of my people Israel; they shall rebuild and inhabit their ruined cities, plant vineyards and drink the wine, set out gardens and eat the fruits. 15 I will plant them upon their own ground; never again shall they be plucked from the land I have given them, say I, the Lord, your God.
 
P S A L M
 
Psalm 85:9, 10, 11-12, 13-14
R: The Lord speaks of peace to his people.
8 [9] I will hear what God proclaims; the Lord — for he proclaims peace. To his people. 9 [10] Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him, glory dwelling in our land. (R) 10 [11] Kindness and truth shall meet; justice and peace shall kiss. 11 [12] Truth shall spring out of the earth, and justice shall look down from heaven. (R) 12 [13] The Lord himself will give his benefits; our land shall yield its increase. 13 [14] Justice shall walk before him, and salvation, along the way of his steps. (R)
 
GOSPEL
 
The Book of Ecclesiastes tells us that there is a time for everything under heaven. This is true. There is a time for fasting and a time for feasting; there is a time for laughing and a time for mourning. The only place where there is no more time for any suffering is once we have reached eternal life. Let us all pray that we will persevere to the end.
 
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; I know them, and they follow me.
 
Matthew 9:14-17
14 The disciples of John approached Jesus and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?” 15 Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. 17 People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”
 
think: Let us all pray that we will persevere to the end.
 
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 2 Chronicles 16-18
BLESSING

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SABBATH

 

THE RAINBOW OF GOD
 
“The Lord speaks of peace to His people.”
This is today’s Responsorial Psalm antiphon. It invites us to say yes to God’s ancient offer of friendship.
I say ancient because it has always been there, from the very first pages of the Bible. In the book of Genesis, God offered Noah the sign of the rainbow. It came with a promise and assurance, “See, I am now establishing my covenant with you... that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed by the waters of a flood, there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth” (Genesis 9:8-9). The rainbow actually is the sign of God’s friendship, the offer of reconciliation.
The rainbow is the bow (and arrow) of God put eternally to rest, telling man that His anger is now a thing of the past. Man is once more called to a covenant of friendship. Every time man looks up the sky and sees a rainbow, he is to see an archer’s bow retired and hung on the wall, never to be used again.
In the New Covenant, Jesus is not only the manifestation but the personification of God’s friendship. In fact He is the ultimate manifestation. “In times past, God spoke in varied and fragmentary ways. But in these last days, he spoke to us through a son....” (Hebrews 1:1ff). Jesus is also the rainbow of God and we are invited to accept that rainbow.
But how do we accept Him? Jesus uses the image of new wineskins for new wine. We accept Jesus when we heed His clarion call, “Reform your lives and believe in the Good News!” (Mark 1:15).
Reforming our lives is saying no to temptation and saying yes to God’s friendship. That could be threatening. This is why Jesus speaks of the need for new wineskins to carry new wine. We need to throw away the old wineskins of our sinfulness to accept the new wine of Jesus’ offer of salvation. Fr. Joel Jason
 
REFLECTION QUESTIONS: What old “wineskin” do you need to discard in your life right now? When was the last time you drank the “new wine” of the sacrament of  reconciliation?
 
Lord Jesus, draw me to drink from Your cup of salvation. Amen.
 

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