Daily Bible Reflections
for April 23, 2018
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Dear Friend,

Don't be discouraged! God will be with you through this week.

Praying for you,

Bo Sanchez



23
April
Monday
TODAY'S READINGS:

DIDACHE | COMPANION | SABBATH
DIDACHE

 

GRAFFITI AND GATES

“I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.” – John 10:9

In his book, The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell presents how a small, seemingly insignificant thing or incident can tip or bend towards a bigger change.

Gladwell gives the Broken Windows Theory as an example. He points out that if a window is broken and left unrepaired, “people walking by will conclude that no one cares and no one is in charge.” So the place becomes open to all sorts of crimes.

Adopting the Broken Windows Theory, New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani endeavored to solve crimes in the city by washing off graffiti on subway cars and arresting those who jumped over subway gates to avoid paying the $1.25 train fare. Small things like these served to restore law and order in the city.

Today, we read about another gate. Entering this Gate and surrendering our dirty graffiti and brokenness brings tremendous results: we will be saved.

For the Gate is our Lord Jesus Himself who can heal us and give us life to the full. Chay Santiago (cusantiago@gmail.com)


Reflect: What troubles and miseries in your life are about to reach the tipping point? Bring them to Jesus.

Lord, cleanse me of my graffiti that I may enter the Gate of Your heavenly Kingdom.

St. George, martyr, patron of England, pray for us.

 

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COMPANION

1st READING

Today’s reading relates the event that paves the way for the proclamation of the Gospel to the Gentiles. As the leader of the Church, Peter has the authority to explain and lay down the rules for the ministry. There are always two sides to an argument. But we can be sure that the decision about evangelizing the Gentiles is made with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 11:1-18

1 The Apostles and the brothers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem the circumcised believers confronted him, 3 saying, “You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them.” 4 Peter began and explained it to them step by step, saying, 5 “I was at prayer in the city of Joppa when in a trance I had a vision, something resembling a large sheet coming down, lowered from the sky by its four corners, and it came to me. 6 Looking intently into it, I observed and saw the four-legged animals of the earth, the wild beasts, the reptiles, and the birds of the sky. 7 I also heard a voice say to me, ‘Get up, Peter. Slaughter and eat.’ 8 But I said, ‘Certainly not, sir, because nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9 But a second time a voice from heaven answered, ‘What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.’ 10 This happened three times, and then everything was drawn up again into the sky. 11 Just then three men appeared at the house where we were, who had been sent to me from Caesarea. 12 The Spirit told me to accompany them without discriminating. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. 13 He related to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, saying, ‘Send someone to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter, 14 who will speak words to you by which you and all your household will be saved.’ 15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them as it had upon us at the beginning, 16 and I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, ‘John baptized with water but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If then God gave them the same gift he gave to us when we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to be able to hinder God?” 18 When they heard this, they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying, “God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too.”

P S A L M 

Psalm 42:2-3; 43:3-4

R: Athirst is my soul for the living God.

1 [2] As the hind longs for the running waters, so my soul longs for you, O God. 2 [3] Athirst is my soul for God, the living God. When shall I go and behold the face of God? (R) 43: 3 Send forth your light and your fidelity; they shall lead me on and bring me to your holy mountain, to your dwelling-place. (R) 4 Then will I go in to the altar of God, the God of my gladness and joy; then will I give you thanks upon the harp, O God, my God! (R)

GOSPEL

The real shepherd of the flock — the leader of God’s people — will enter through the front door and will not have to sneak in via a side door. Consider it as gossip and ignore any talk about right and wrong that does not come from the front and center. If you have a problem, talk to the leaders. Avoid speaking to others and sowing dissatisfaction among the flock that can cause division and other problems.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

I am the good shepherd, says the Lord; I know my sheep, and mine know me.

John 10:1-10

1 Jesus said: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. 2 But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. 5 But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.” 6 Although Jesus used this  figure of speech, they did not realize what he was trying to tell them. 7 So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

think: How does Jesus describe Himself as the Good Shepherd? What is one of the Good Shepherd’s traits that you wish to have? 

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Read the Bible in one year 2 Samuel 21-24

 

T O D A Y’S BLESSING LIST

 

 

thank You, Lord, for: ______________________________________ 

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SABBATH

 

THE WAY OF THE SHEPHERD

In my ministry as parish priest, I learned that I need to be many things to my parishioners on different occasions.

There are times I need to go before them: to lead, to inspire, to teach, to model. In times when they feel unsure and inadequate, I need to lead the way and take the first step.

At times, I need to be in the midst of them: to just be with them, waste time with them, celebrate our friendship, double their joy, lessen their sorrows. At times, I need to just stay at the back: to observe, to be an observer, to allow them to be themselves, to discover their strengths and work out their weaknesses.


That is also what a shepherd is for his sheep.


A sheep, they say, is legally blind. It cannot see beyond its nose. Quite literally, it needs a shepherd in front to lead it, mostly through the sound of his voice; otherwise, the sheep can walk straight into a ravine or a pack of waiting wolves.

A shepherd also stays in the midst of the flock. A sheep needs to feel the physical proximity of its shepherd to make it feel safe and secure. Because the shepherd lives in the midst of the flock, the shepherd literally smells like the sheep. He knows and he feels it when the sheep is joyful, fearful, unsure, or secure.

A shepherd also stays at the back, to push the sheep into the sheep pen. And then, he sleeps at the gate. Literally, an enemy has to walk over the dead body of the shepherd before he can pass through the sheep gate.

That is also what Jesus did. He went before us to lead us. He lived in the midst of us to encourage us. He went behind us to push us and make us better. Fr. Joel O. Jason

------- REFLECTION QUESTION -------

Do you know when you need to go before, in the midst, or behind the people entrusted to your care?

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. Amen.


Today, I pray for: _______________________________________

 

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