Bible Readings
MASTERAL PROGRAM
“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now…” – John 16:12
I just finished a two-year masteral program that is a zillion miles unrelated to my being a dentist. Naturally, it was very difficult for me to absorb the new concepts which my mind was not accustomed to. Our professors were patient in explaining all these concepts and theories and helping us apply it through our practicum month after month, semester after semester, until we truly had mastery in that field.
I believe that that’s how God works with us, too. He patiently teaches us the ways of the Kingdom by giving us tests and trials that will draw out that virtue in us. Then He gives us more challenging adversities that are never beyond our strength, until we learn to respond to our circumstances the way He expects us. We are always a work in progress until that day comes when we have completed our masteral program in Kingdom life. On that day, He will say, “It is finished.” Ronna Ledesma
REFLECTION:
Have you mastered your response towards that person who constantly irritates you?
Father God, I pray that all who would see me would see You.
BE COOL! THE SPIRIT IS WITHIN
When our time is almost up and we still have many things to say or do, we always end up frantic. Panic leaves even more things unsaid and undone.
The earthly time of Jesus is almost up and still, as He says in the Gospel today, He has many things to tell His disciples. But Jesus is not panicking. He is a picture of a cool man even under pressure. He is not worried about tomorrow. He does not overfeed His disciples with His teachings, lest they suffer from spiritual indigestion. Did He not already say in Matthew 6:34, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Jesus never worries; He is the best example of what He teaches.
Jesus has confidence on the other Two Persons of the Most Blessed Trinity. He trusts the Father to send the Holy Spirit and He trusts the Holy Spirit to fulfill His role in the work of salvation.
The Holy Spirit teaches in two ways. First, He teaches by clarifying what Jesus already taught His disciples through inner illumination. Second, He reminds the disciples what they forget about the teachings of Jesus. The Holy Spirit teaches nothing new. This is because Jesus is already the final, complete, and definitive revelation of God. There is nothing new after Jesus. The Holy Spirit’s role as the Teacher of truth is to enlighten and to remind us about Jesus. Upon being enlightened and reminded of Jesus – who He is and what He stands for – we come to grasp the teachings of Jesus. The tremendous significance and indispensable role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of all believers. Fr. Bobby Titco
Reflection Question:
Panic makes me forget. The Holy Spirit helps me remember.
Slow me down, Lord, through Your Spirit when I rush through each day. Cool me down when the pressures start to boil in me. Help me remember the example You gave me and the Spirit You poured into my heart. Amen.
St. Pius V, pope, pray for us.
1st READING
Paul is very clever. He allows that perhaps the Athenians already had a latent belief in Christ in terms of an altar he found inscribed “to an unknown God.” It is this same cunning we need in proclaiming the Gospel today. We need to know how to make the Gospel appeal to the minds and hearts of the people without compromising its truth or message. This is the task of inculturation – a difficult job that has to be done with wisdom and care.
Acts 17: 15, 22-18:1
15 After Paul’s escorts had taken him to Athens, they came away with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible. 22 Then Paul stood up at the Areopagus and said: “You Athenians, I see that in every respect you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines, I even discovered an altar inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’ What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and all that is in it, the Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands, 25 nor is he served by human hands because he needs anything. Rather it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything. 26 He made from one the whole human race to dwell on the entire surface of the earth, and he fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions, 27 so that people might seek God, even perhaps grope for him and find him, though indeed he is not far from any one of us. 28 For ‘In him we live and move and have our being,’ as even some of your poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’ 29 Since therefore we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the divinity is like an image fashioned from gold, silver, or stone by human art and imagination. 30 God has overlooked the times of ignorance, but now he demands that all people everywhere repent 31 because he has established a day on which he will ‘judge the world with justice’ through a man he has appointed, and he has provided confirmation for all by raising him from the dead.” 32 When they heard about resurrection of the dead, some began to scoff, but others said, “We should like to hear you on this some other time.” 33 And so Paul left them. 34 But some did join him, and became believers. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the Court of the Areopagus, a woman named Damaris, and others with them. 18: 1 After this he left Athens and went to Corinth.
P S A L M
Psalm 148: 1-2, 11-12, 13, 14
R: Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
1 Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise him in the heights; 2 Praise him, all you his angels, praise him, all you his hosts. (R) 11 Let the kings of the earth and all peoples, the princes and all the judges of the earth, 12 young men too, and maidens, old men and boys. (R) 13 Praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven. (R) 14 He has lifted up the horn of his people. Be this his praise from all his faithful ones, from the children of Israel, the people close to him. Alleluia. (R)
G O S P E L
The Holy Spirit is a spirit of truth. He will guide us in the truth and protect us from error if we open our hearts and minds to His guidance. Oftentimes, the problem is individuals want to be their own arbiter regarding truth and falsehood. This is a disastrous position to take. We see that the Garden of Eden is where Adam and Eve first asserted this desire. This act opened the way to sin. I wonder why we keep repeating this mistake today?
John 16:12-15
12 “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. 13 But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. 14 He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. 15 Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.”
my reflections
think:
Have we opened our hearts and minds to the Holy Spirit’s guidance?
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