Daily Bible Reflections
for August 22, 2014
;

Dear Friend,

May you be guided by His directions this Friday!

Praying for you,

Bo Sanchez



22
August
Friday
TODAY'S READINGS:

DIDACHE | COMPANION | SABBATH
DIDACHE

 

Memorial of the Queenship of the

Blessed Virgin Mary

 
THE ORDER OF LOVE
 

Jesus answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and the most important commandment. The second most important commandment is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’”– Matthew 22:37-39

 

Growing up, I always thought that the proper order of life is this: Love God. Then love others. And only then, can you love yourself. For some reason, I thought that I should put myself last just because not doing so means that I’m being selfish. But looking at this passage again, I realized that the correct order of life should be this: Love for God is first and foremost. Loving God simply allows me to tap into a limitless source of grace. This in turn fuels me to give more love continuously — without running out of it.

       Love for self is crucial. Loving myself allows me to set a high standard on how I live life. The more love I experience, the happier I am. The happier I am, the better life I will lead.

       Love for others is the goal in life. Loving others allows me to become a flowing river of life. I become a channel of God’s love to the people and the world around me — bringing God’s love wherever I go. Orange V. Garcia (orange_garcia@hotmail.com)

 

Reflection: Have you loved yourself lately? Why don’t you declare a “me” day? Follow this formula: Pray — spend time with God alone. Eat — treat yourself to your favorite food. Love — do something special for someone else. Then slowly expand this “me” day to “every” day.

 

Lord, teach me to love myself so I can be more loving to others.

 

St. Andrew the Scot, pray for us.

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COMPANION

 

1ST READING
 

God can bring life out of any situation. If we do not believe this, then we have to rethink our notion of the power of God, because it is true. Ezekiel reminds the people that they have come, a few hundred years ago, from a place of death, namely slavery in Egypt, but God gave them a new life in the Promised Land. They know the power of God at work in their lives as a nation.

 
Ezekiel 37:1-14

1 The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he led me out in the spirit of the Lord and set me in the center of the plain, which was now filled with bones. 2 He made me walk among them in every direction so that I saw how many they were on the surface of the plain. How dry they were! 3 He asked me: Son of man, can these bones come to life? I answered, “Lord God, you alone know that.” 4 Then he said to me: Prophesy over these bones, and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: See! I will bring spirit into you, that you may come to life. 6 I will put sinews upon you, make flesh grow over you, cover you with skin, and put spirit in you so that you may come to life and know that I am the Lord. 7 I prophesied as I had been told, and even as I was prophesying I heard a noise; it was a rattling as the bones came together, bone joining bone. 8 I saw the sinews and the flesh come upon them, and the skin cover them, but there was no spirit in them. 9 Then he said to me: Prophesy to the spirit, prophesy, son of man, and say to the spirit: Thus says the Lord God: From the four winds come, O spirit, and breathe into these slain that they may come to life. 10 I prophesied as he told me, and the spirit came into them; they came alive and stood upright, a vast army. 11 Then he said to me: Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They have been saying, “Our bones are dried up, our hope is lost, and we are cut off.” 12 Therefore, prophesy and say to them: Thus says the Lord God: O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and have you rise from them, O my people! 14 I will put my spirit in you that you may live, and I will settle you upon your land; thus you shall know that I am the Lord. I have promised, and I will do it, says the Lord.

 
P S A L M
Psalm 107:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

R: Give thanks to the Lord; his love is everlasting.

2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say, those whom he has redeemed from the hand of the foe 3 and gathered from the lands, from the east and the west, from the north and the south. (R) 4 They went astray in the desert wilderness; the way to an inhabited city they did not find. 5 Hungry and thirsty, their life was wasting away within them. (R) 6 They cried to the Lord in their distress; from their straits he rescued them. 7 And he led them by a direct way to reach an inhabited city. (R) 8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his mercy and his wondrous deeds to the children of men, 9 because he satisfied the longing soul and filled the hungry soul with good things. (R)

 
GOSPEL
 
 

All the moral laws of Christianity stem from the double commandment of love — love God and love your neighbor. It is helpful that we perceive our duty in the first instance as a call to love and not as a duty to serve. This love instructs our duties to the point that whatever we do ought to be motivated by love first and foremost. Christianity is nothing without these foundational commandments of love.

 
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

Teach me your paths, my God, guide me in your truth.

 
Matthew 22:34-40

34 When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35 and one of them a scholar of the law tested him by asking, 36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37 He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and the first commandment. 39 The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

 
think:  God can bring life out of any situation.
 
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 Job 30-33

 

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SABBATH

 

THE GREATEST LAW OF ALL

 

The law that encompasses all others is the command of love. We are called to love God and each other without exception. We are often particular in our love of others, choosing to love most people and refusing to love a few. This is not acceptable to the Christian way of life. The law of love that Jesus commands is that we should love everyone, including our enemies. This is what sets Christianity apart from other religions. The universality of the command to love means that we have a very sophisticated understanding of the idea of forgiveness, something that is deficient and even absent from other religions and ways of life.

       As we celebrate the Queenship of Mary today, in honor of her love for us as our Mother, the Mother of the Church, our Queen, let us resolve to love others with a greater commitment than before. Let us stretch ourselves in love so that we will be obedient to love even our enemies, as hard as that is in reality. I am sure that Mary will be most pleased if we make any effort to fulfill this law.

       Jesus is right when He answers that the commandments rest on the dual command of love: love of God and love of neighbor. It is good to reflect on how this is, as it can inspire us to give greater effort along these lines. If we understand that love is at the heart of everything we do, we will realize that the expressions of love, from the smallest to the greatest, are what will ultimately matter to us as individuals and as part of the human family. There is nothing more important or powerful in propagating peace than choosing to love our enemies. If we seek revenge, then the conflict is perpetuated indefinitely; if one party chooses the way of forgiveness, the resolution of the issue is close at hand.

       Let us be the first to seek love as the primary focus of our relationships. Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

 

REFLECTION QUESTION: Is there anyone in your life that you need to forgive? Do it now.

 

Holy Spirit, without Your help I will not be able to love and forgive those who have wronged me. Help me to overcome any desire for revenge and to choose love and forgiveness every time.

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