Scripture

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Sunday, 20 January 2013 : 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

John 2 : 1-11

Three days later there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus was also invited to the wedding with His disciples. When all the wine provided for the celebration had been served, and they had run out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” Jesus replied, “Woman, what concern is that to you and Me? My hour has not yet come.” However His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.”

Nearby were six stone water jars, set there for ritual washing as practiced by the Jews; each jar could hold twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them to the brim. Then Jesus said, “Now draw some out and take it to the steward.” So they did.

The steward tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing from where it had come; for only the servants who had drawn the water knew. So, he called the bridegroom to tell him, “Everyone serves the best wine first, and when people have drunk enough, he serves that which is ordinary. Instead you have kept the best wine until the end.”

This miraculous sign was the first, and Jesus performed it at Cana in Galilee. In this way He let His glory appear, and His disciples believed in Him.

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Sunday, 20 January 2013 : 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

1 Corinthians 12 : 4-11

There is diversity of gifts, but the Spirit is the same. There is diversity of ministries, but the Lord is the same. There is diversity of works, but the same God works in all.

The Spirit reveals His presence in each one with a gift that is also a service. One is to speak with wisdom, through the Spirit. Another teaches according to the same Spirit. To another is given faith, in which the Spirit acts; to another the gift of healing, and it is the same Spirit.

Another works miracles, another is a prophet, another recognises what comes from the good or evil spirit; another speaks in tongues, and still another interprets what has been said in tongues. And all of this is the work of the one and only Spirit, who gives to each one as He so desires.

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Sunday, 20 January 2013 : 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Isaiah 62 : 1-5

For Zion’s sake I will not hold my peace, for Jerusalem I will not keep silent, until her holiness shines like the dawn and her salvation flames like a burning torch. The nations will see your holiness and all the kings your glory. You will be called by a new name which the mouth of YHVH will reveal. You will be a crown of glory in the hand of YHVH, a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

No longer will you be named Forsaken; no longer will your land be called Abandoned; but you will be called My Delight and your land Espoused. For YHVH delights in you and will make your land His spouse. As a young man marries a virgin, so will your builder marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so will your God rejoice in you.

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Friday, 18 January 2013 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

Today’s first reading from the Letter to the Hebrews and the Gospel Reading brought forward a very clear message to all of us, that we must stay faithful and indeed have faith in the Lord. If we remain faithful in God, He will reward us, but if we abandon Him, we will not merit His Kingdom as our reward. And we should honour the Lord at all times, and respect the holiness of Sundays as God’s holy day, and participate fully in the Holy Mass on Sundays.

In our daily lives, we encountered many problems, difficulties, and challenges. Such is also the challenges that faces the Lord when He created our world. As He created our world, He laboured and toiled, shaping creation and our world as we know it today. And yet, after all things are completed, He pulled back and rested. This day when the Lord rested is the day that we now respect as the Holy Day of God, Sunday. In the third commandment, God commanded us to honour His Holy Day. Why should we honour such a day? It is important that we find some time in the midst of our busy lives to spend it with God, God who loves us, and God who created us. Particularly, we should participate fully in the Holy Eucharist every Sundays, and receive our Lord into ourselves through the Most Precious Body and Blood in the Eucharist.

The Lord Himself had said, “Come to me, all of you who work hard and who carry heavy burdens, and I will refresh you/give you rest. We deserve the Lord’s refreshment only if we had the courage to come to Him, and seek His forgiveness. Just as the Lord is present in the church in the Most Holy Eucharist, let us all come to be with Him just as the people gathered around Jesus in the home. By seeing our great faith in Him, the Lord will reward us, just as how Jesus healed the paralytic after seeing the great faith of those around Him, especially the four people who removed the roof in order to bring the paralytic before Jesus.

In the letter to the Hebrews, a contrast was made between those who listen to God directly (the Apostles, and the people gathered around Jesus in the house, when Jesus still walked this world with them, and the believers who indirectly listen to the Word of the Lord through the Scripture and the teachings of the priests and the church. But this do not mean actually that we cannot be as faithful as those who has seen the Lord. Remember that the Lord Himself said to Thomas, when he believed only after seeing the Resurrected Christ : “Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believes”. That means, although we do not see the Lord directly, we can still believe in Him, and in His love, and particularly in this Year of Faith, we must strive to strengthen our Faith in God.

Then, the Gospel reading today also highlighted the Authority that has been given to Jesus, as the Son of God, to forgive sins. Why do we then confess to priests? Why do we tell them our sins? Can’t we just confess it to God and be forgiven? Christ has given the authority to forgive sins to His Apostles : “Those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven, and those whose sins you retain, they are retained”, and this authority came down from the Apostles, to the bishops, and finally to the priests that we meet in our lives. Through these priests, the Lord work His authority to forgive our sins, and this is why, we should confess frequently and regularly, that whatever sins, even little sins that we have, are forgiven by God, through our priests.

In addition to this, the authority of the Lord in forgiving our sins and His healing of the paralytic shows that the spiritual sickness of the soul through sin can indeed affect the physical dimensions of our body. Many of our physical illness can be tied to the poor conditions of our mentality, and our soul. So first, rather than seek to cure our physical infirmities, we should first seek peace with God, by asking for His mercy on us, that our sins will be forgiven. It is better for us to be not physically very healthy but having a pure and peaceful soul untainted by sin, rather then be very healthy, but have a corrupted soul filled with sin. Never neglect the soul, as much as we put much attention to our physical health by consuming vitamins and healthy foods. We also need spiritual food, the Word of God in the Scripture, and to pray to God constantly, speaking to the Lord, and listening to Him. That our being will not be just physically healthy, but also spiritually robust as well!

May the Lord bless us this day, that we will be spiritually healthy as we are physically healthy, and just like the actions of the four men who carried the paralytic to Jesus, let us care for one another, and comfort those who are sorrowful, and bring the Word of God to those who are in darkness, that just like the paralytic, they may be healed as well, and become children of the Light. Let us strengthen our faith in this Holy Year of Faith, and renew our commitment to love God, to honour His holy day in the Mass, and to love one another, just as God loves us. Amen.

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Thursday, 17 January 2013 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony the abbot (Gospel Reading)

Mark 1 : 40-45

A leper came to Jesus and begged Him, “If you want to, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I do want to; be clean.” The leprosy left the man at once and he was made clean. As Jesus sent the man away, He sternly warned him, “Don’t tell anyone about this, but go and show yourself to the priest, and for the cleansing bring the offering ordered by Moses; in this way you will give to them your testimony.”

However, as soon as the man went out, he began spreading the news everywhere, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter any town. But even though He stayed in the rural areas, people came to Him from everywhere.

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Thursday, 17 January 2013 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony the abbot (First Reading)

Hebrew 3 : 7-14

Listen to what the Holy Spirit says : If only you would hear God’s voice today! Do not be stubborn, as they were in the place called Rebellion, when your ancestors challenged Me in the desert, although they had seen My deeds for forty years. That is why I was angry with those people and said : Their hearts are always going astray and they do not understand my ways. I was angry and made a solemn vow : They will never enter my rest.

So, brothers, be careful lest some of you come to have an evil and unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. Encourage one another, day by day, as long as it is called today. Let no one become hardened in the deceitful way of sin. We are associated with Christ provided we hold steadfastly to our initial hope until the end.

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Welcome to my new Blog! A Blog on the Reflection of the Daily Scripture Reading of the Year and other things pertaining to the Catholic Faith

Welcome to my new site! I hope to (I will try my best) list here the daily Scripture readings and the reflections on the daily readings, feel free to comment on the reflections that I made.

Let us all work together for the greater glory of God!

+Ut Omnes Unum Sint, ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam+
(That they all may be One, for the greater glory of God)