Daily Bible Reflections
for July 22, 2016
;

Dear Friend,

Offer your hardships and trials to the Lord this Friday.

Praying for you,

Bo Sanchez



22
July
Friday
TODAY'S READINGS:

DIDACHE | COMPANION | SABBATH
DIDACHE

 

FORGIVEN, FAVORED
AND SENT
 

“Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and they reported what he told her. – John 20:17-18

 

       St. Mary Magdalene, disciple of the Lord, whose feast day we are celebrating today, is a well-known biblical character. Tradition says she was a prostitute, and the sister of Lazarus and Martha. She was forgiven by Jesus Christ of her many sins and became a follower, accompanying Him in His missionary journeys. At the house of Simon where the Lord had supper, she was the one who washed His feet with

her tears, dried them with her hair, and perfumed them with an expensive scent. Indeed, it is true that who is forgiven much loves much.

       When Jesus rose from the dead, He chose to reveal Himself first to Mary Magdalene. He sent her as His first witness to the male disciples.

       Jesus was truly revolutionary. By this act, He championed the cause of women, who, during those times, were considered second-class citizens. He favored somebody whose sins He forgave, someone who followed Him and was blessed to be the bearer of Good News. Grace Princesa (grprincesa @yahoo.com)

 

Reflection: “The sign of sincere love is to forgive wrongs done to us. It was with such love that the Lord loved the world.” (St. Mark the Ascetic)

 

Lord, as a forgiven sinner, may I realize that I am favored to be sent to share God’s great love for us.

 
St. Mary Magdalene, pray for us.

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COMPANION

 

1ST READING
 
 

Sin is a rebellion against God — we act according to our own desires rather than submit to His will. The covenant that God makes with His people is a commitment to surrender to His plan. Rebellion is contrary to this idea.

 

Jeremiah 3:14-17

14 “Return, rebellious children,” says the Lord, “for I am your Master; I will take you, one from a city, two from a clan, and bring you to Zion. 15 I will appoint over you shepherds after my own heart who will shepherd you wisely and prudently. 16 When you multiply and become fruitful in the land, says the Lord, they will in those days no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord!’ They will no longer think of it, or remember it, or miss it, or make another. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem the Lord’s throne. There all nations will be gathered together to honor the name of the Lord at Jerusalem, and they will walk no longer in their hardhearted wickedness.”

 
P S A L M
 

Jeremiah 31:10, 11-12, 13

R: The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

10 Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, proclaim it on distant isles, and say: He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together, he guards them as a shepherd his flock. (R) 11 The Lord shall ransom Jacob; he shall redeem him from the hand of his conqueror. 12 Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion, they shall come streaming to the Lord’s blessings the grain, the wine, and the oil, the sheep and the oxen. (R) 13 Then the virgins shall make merry and dance, and young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will console and gladden them after their sorrows. (R)

 
GOSPEL
 

Mary Magdalene is one of the first to see the Risen Lord. What a privileged place she holds in our tradition. Let us ensure that the Good News we have received remains as the foundation on which we should build our lives. Mary Magdalene testifies to the power of repentance and the transforming power of faith. She is now considered as one of the great collaborators of Jesus in His mission.

 

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

Tell us, Mary, what did you see on the way? I saw the glory of the risen Christ, I saw his empty tomb.

 

John 20:1-2, 11-18 (or Matthew 13:18-23)

1 On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” 11 Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the Body of Jesus had been. 13 And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher. 17 Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and then repeated what he told her.

 

think: Let us ensure that the Good News we have received remains as the foundation on which we should build our lives.

 
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 Tobit 4-7

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SABBATH

 

Memorial of St. Mary Magdalene,

Disciple of the Lord

 

MARY MAGDALENE’S POWERFUL WITNESS

 

Mary Magdalene never ceases to startle big audiences. It was not only Dan Brown who stirred up heated discussions with his controversial Da Vinci Code in which Mary and Jesus were portrayed as a happily married couple.

       In 2014, Barrie Wilson and Simcha Jacobovici again claimed that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and that they had two children. They based their statements on an Aramaic text that allegedly had been in the British Museum and then in the British Library for almost 170 years. The claim has been debunked by serious experts.

       Poor Mary Magdalene! For centuries she was thought to have been a prostitute (something that even today some priests still tell in their homilies). But check the whole New Testament and you will not find the slightest hint that she was a sinful woman or married to Jesus.

       Because of the incident we read about in today’s Gospel, she was called the “apostle to the Apostles.” Apostle means “one who is sent” and the Risen Lord sent her to the Apostles to tell them about His resurrection. “I have seen the Lord” was the message she proclaimed to the disciples who were hiding for fear they would also be arrested.

       In Gospels not included in the New Testament, we read that Mary seemingly was a leading figure in the Early Church, a woman who  had at times a stronger faith than the male disciples. She witnessed to Christ in the Early Church and surely brought many to Him. It was her encounter with Jesus that made her proclaim the Good News that Jesus is alive.

       To give witness in our modern society is one of the most important tasks we have as Christians. But to do this, we too need to  encounter Jesus. He gives us many opportunities to encounter Him. For Jesus continues to reveal Himself through His Word and in His sacraments, especially in the Holy Eucharist. May we always return to these sources, so that we might always recognize Jesus and be equipped to witness to Him. Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD

 

REFLECTION QUESTION: Are you aware that your main task as a Christian is to witness to Christ in our secular society?

 

Lord, You found in Mary Magdalene a faithful disciple and witness to Your resurrection. Help me to imitate her and become a more valuable witness to You in this world. Amen.

 

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