Daily Bible Reflections
for September 8, 2019
;

Dear Friend,

Celebrate God's love through His Word for you this Sunday!

Praying for you,

Bo Sanchez



8
September
Sunday
TODAY'S READINGS:

DIDACHE | COMPANION | SABBATH
DIDACHE

 

Feast Day of the Birth
of the Blessed Virgin Mary 

PLANNED OUT FOR YOU

For what man knows God’s counsel, or who can conceive what our Lord intends? – Wisdom 9:13

I watched an interview of a local actress who grew up without her mom. Her mother died when she was two years old, and she was left in the care of her grandmother. When she became a teenager, she accompanied a cousin to an audition for a movie, but the cousin was underaged, so she was the one taken in.

Years passed and she became famous. But there was a time when she felt down—no work, no one to turn to. She went through depression for almost a year. Her way out of her depression? God.

Things turned brighter for her. She is back in the limelight but more grounded now. She has a thriving business. She’s into painting, mountain hiking, and a lot more activities that give her balance. She also openly discusses her experience with depression so that those who pass through the same will have some hope. She gives credit to God who turned her life around and used her past to move others to turn to Him to experience a full life.

From the time we were in our mother’s womb, God has everything planned out for us. And though we may at times deviate from His plans, He already has a plan for our redemption. Tess V. Atienza (theresa.a@shepherdsvoice.com.ph)

Reflect: Are you going through some difficulties? Trust in God’s plans—He will carry you through it.

Dearest God, You have everything planned out for me. Help me to trust in that fact. Amen.

St. Adrian, pray for us. 

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COMPANION

1st READING 

God’s counsel and will is sometimes beyond our comprehension, bound as we are to conventions and rules of the world. A wise person will know this and will obey God, rather than attempt to understand the impossible. A wise person knows his place in the bigger scheme of things and is content to work within a understanding that is relevant to his wisdom.

Wisdom 9:13-18

13 Who knows God’s counsel, or who can conceive what our Lord intends? 14 For the deliberations of mortals are timid, and unsure are our plans. 15 For the corruptible body burdens the soul and the earthen shelter weighs down the mind that has many concerns. 16 And scarce do we guess the things on earth, and what is within our grasp we find with difficulty; but when things are in heaven, who can search them out? 17 Or who ever knew your counsel, except you had given wisdom and sent your holy spirit from on high? 18 And thus were the paths of those on earth made straight.

PSALM

Psalm 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14, 17

R: In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.

3 You turn man back to dust, saying, “Return, O children of men.” 4 For a thousand years in your sight are as yesterday, now that it is past, or as a watch of the night. (R) 5 You make an end of them in their sleep; the next morning they are like the changing grass, 6 which at dawn springs up anew, but by evening wilts and fades. (R) 12 Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart. 13 Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your servants! (R) 14 Fill us at daybreak with your kindness, that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days. 17 And may the gracious care of the Lord our God be ours; prosper the work of our hands for us! Prosper the work of our hands! (R)

2nd READING

Paul works within slavery, a social structure that we find repulsive today. He knows it is not his focus to change this societal structure, so he works to free Onesimus from slavery for the sake of the Gospel. He appeals to Philemon to make Onesimus available for the work of the Gospel. Sometimes, we too, have to work at bringing societal change one step at a time. Change over time is usually much more lasting and beneficial than so-called “flash-in-the-pan” conversions.

Philemon 9-10, 12-17

9 I, Paul, an old man, and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus, 10 urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment, 12 I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. 13 I should have liked to retain him for myself, so that he might serve me on your behalf in my imprisonment for the gospel, 14 but I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that the good you do might not be forced but voluntary. 15 Perhaps this is why he was away from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, 16 no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a brother, beloved especially to me, but even more so to you, as a man and in the Lord. 17 So if you regard me as a partner, welcome him as you would me.

GOSPEL

Jesus reminds us today that the life of a disciple is a difficult one. Discipleship is not for the fainthearted. There is a cost involved in following Jesus—our life! He wants us to surrender to Him completely so He can guide us easily and freely. We need to be like soldiers in an army following the commander’s orders.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

Let your face shine upon your servant; and teach me your laws.

Luke 14:25-33

25 Great crowds were traveling with Jesus, and he turned and addressed them, 26 “If any one comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? 29 Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him 30 and say, ‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’ 31 Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops? 32 But if not, while he is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms. 33 In the same way, everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”

think: What difficulties have you encountered as a disciple of Jesus?

______________________________    

______________________________   

 

T O D A Y’S BLESSING LIST 

thank You, Lord, for: 

____________________  

                 

Read the Bible in one year - Psalm 71-75  

 

 
 

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SABBATH

 

DISCERNMENT OF SPIRITS

Weeks before I was about to enter the seminary, my father passed away. It was a big blow for my family. That could have been the last straw to reverse my decision in responding to the priestly vocation. The situation called for a discernment of spirit.

In St. Ignatius de Loyola’s autobiography, he says (in the third person), “From experience, he knew that some thoughts left him sad while others made him happy, and little by little he came to perceive the different spirits that were moving him—one coming from the devil, the other coming from God.” (Autobiography, no. 8). Saint Ignatius believes that these interior movements are caused by good spirits and evil spirits. These spirits are provoked by our emotions, dispositions, memories, dreams, ambitions, desires, pleasures, etc. Discernment means to distinguish, to separate out by diligent search, the ability to properly discriminate and examine these spirits.

I wanted to pursue my long-awaited plan to enter the seminary, but family concerns troubled me. The death of my father demanded a discernment of spirits. It was not simply choosing between good or bad. Saint John, the evangelist, warns: “Do not believe every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).

I left home with a heavy heart. I had to leave and pursue my discernment even though, being the eldest in the family, I felt I had the responsibility to my family. Looking back, I think I made a good discernment. It brought me so much peace.

In discernment, we gather our data exhaustively. We do our research, consult elders, and pray. That’s what the Gospel suggests. Discernment is not governed by what we want on impulse. Rather, it is governed by what God wants, facilitated by our own discernment of spirits. Fr. Haluendo Amit, OCD

------- REFLECTION QUESTIONS -------

Are you about to make a decision now? What does your discernment tell you?

Clarify my thoughts and feelings, Lord, and help me align them with what You want me to do. Amen.

Today, I pray for: _____________________________

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