Daily Bible Reflections
for December 8, 2012;

Dear Friend,

Be inspired with His message to you this Saturday!

Praying for you,

Bo Sanchez

Live this second Sunday of Advent with deep trust!

8
 December
Saturday
TODAY'S READINGS:

DIDACHE | COMPANION | SABBATH
DIDACHE

 

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary
 
Simbang Gabi Miracles
 
For nothing will be impossible for God. Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” – Luke 1:37-38
 
I was excited when I found out that we would have Simbang Gabi in our clubhouse that Christmas. But I had mixed emotions when I learned that I was in charge of organizing it.
The novena Masses would start in a few days. Could I say no? Only a few people volunteer to serve for our monthly anticipated Masses. What if the same thing happens during the Simbang Gabi?
But I said yes. I believed God had a plan for our community and He wanted me to be a part of it.
Our Simbang Gabi became so successful that our parish priest decided to make our monthly anticipated Masses weekly the following year. Amazing! God used me and a handful of volunteers to touch our neighbors’ lives.
Truly, nothing is impossible with God! Teresa Gumap-as Dumadag (teregmps@yahoo.com)
8
REFLECTION:
Is God calling you now to do something which you think is impossible? Why not choose to have faith in Him like Mary?
 
Lord, grant me the grace to believe that with You, nothing is  impossible.
 
Blessed Virgin Mary, pray for us.
 
 

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COMPANION

 

1ST READING
 
Today is a holy day of obligation in the Philippines as it is one of the patronal feasts of the Philippines. Yes, it does seem that we are celebrating a feast that ascribes to Mary an unfair advantage, but in her life, she still had to deal with temptation like the rest of us, perhaps even more so as the devil would have worked very hard to deflect her from her destiny to become the Mother of God.
 
Genesis 3:9-15, 20
9 After the man, Adam, had eaten of the tree, the Lord God then called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?” 10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.” 11 Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!” 12 The man replied, “The woman whom you put here with me – she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it.” 13 The Lord God then asked the woman, “Why did you do such a thing?” The woman answered, “The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it.” 14 Then the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you shall be banned from all the animals and from all the wild creatures; on your belly shall you crawl, and dirt shall you eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.” 20 The man called his wife Eve, because she became the mother of all the living.
 
P S A L M
 
Psalm 98:1, 2-3, 3-4
R: Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done wondrous deeds.
1 Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done wondrous deeds; his right hand has won victory for him, his holy arm. (R) 2 The Lord has made his salvation known: in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice. 3 He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel. (R) All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God. 4 Sing joyfully to the Lord, all you lands; break into song; sing praise. (R)
 
2ND READING
 
The first three chapters of the Letter to the Ephesians proclaim the wonder and glory of God and His plan of salvation. Each one of us has a part to play in this plan. God has assigned a job to each of us. Are we going to be faithful enough to complete it or will He need an alternative way to get our job done? God does not ask anyone else to do what Mary did because she was obedient to His will. Let us pray that the same will be true for us.
 
Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12
3 Brothers and sisters: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, 4 as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love 5 he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favour of his will, 6 for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved. 11 In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the one who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, 12 so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ.
 
GOSPEL
 
One of the keys to Mary’s obedience is her humility. Humility means to live our lives by and in the truth of God. It has nothing to do with being less or unworthy than someone else. We are all unworthy of the gift of salvation; we are all subordinate to Jesus. If we want to grow in humility, let us ask for the grace to do exactly what Jesus asks us to do — nothing more, nothing less.
 
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women.
 
Luke 1:26-38
26 The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, 33 and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end.” 34 But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” 35 And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. 36 And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; 37 for nothing will be impossible for God.” 38 Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
 
1st READING 2nd READING
think: If we want to grow in humility, let us ask for the grace to do exactly what Jesus asks us to do — nothing more, nothing less.
 
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 Daniel 4-6

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SABBATH

 

Choose Holiness
 
Would you rather punch or be punched? Would you rather rob or be robbed? Would you rather kill or be killed? Tough question, right?
Studying Philosophy in the early years of my priestly studies, I remember being struck by Socrates’ response to the abovementioned questions. He proposed that it is better to suffer evil than to commit it. Meaning, one should choose to be punched than to punch, to be robbed than to rob, to be killed than to kill.
I must admit, my instincts gravitate towards the first set of actions. Yet there is the Socratic principle: Better to suffer evil than to commit evil.
What is Socrates’ reason behind this principle?
When you do evil, you hurt yourself more than the other. The other is hurt physically. But you hurt yourself spiritually. Physical hurt is temporary. Spiritual hurt is longer lasting. And since your soul is immortal, the repercussions of your actions can be eternal.
This is a pagan articulating a very Christian principle. To commit an evil act, a person has to act contrary to love; that is, contrary to his or her own fulfillment, as well as contrary to the fulfillment of another. This is why the Catechism teaches that “mortal sin destroys charity in the heart.” And when charity is lost in the soul, the consequences are eternal.
Today, the Church celebrates the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. In a singular privilege, Mary was preserved from the stain of original sin through the preventive merits of Jesus Christ’s salvific act, as she was chosen beforehand to be the mother of the Son of God. In Mary, the Immaculate One, we are reminded of the incompatibility of sin with holiness. That sin hurts the person more spiritually than physically. And that it is preferable to suffer physical evil than to commit it thereby hurting one’s soul.
Now we understand the saints. Now we understand the martyrs. Fr. Joel Jason
REFLECTION QUESTION: Would you rather suffer evil or commit it?
 
Lord Jesus, help me to be steadfast to Your Word. O Mary Immaculate, intercede for us. Amen.
 

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