Daily Bible Reflections

[evolution8]

October 17, 2007

St. Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr
Wednesday of the 28th week
Rom 2:1-11 • Ps 62
Lk 11:42-46

Woe to the Pharisees and Scholars of the Law

[Jesus said,] 42“Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God. These you should have done, without overlooking the others. 43Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in synagogues and greetings in marketplaces. 44Woe to you! You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.â€

[evolution8]

October 18, 2007

St. Luke, evangelist
Thursday of the 28th week
2 Tm 4:10-17b • Ps 145
Lk 10:1-9

The Mission of the Seventy[-two]

1The Lord appointed seventy[-two] others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. 2He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. 3Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. 4Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. 5Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ 6If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. 7Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his payment. Do not move about from one house to another. 8Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, 9cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you.’ â€

[evolution8]

October 19, 2007

Sts. John de Brebeuf and Isaac Jogues, priests, and Companions, martyrs
St. Paul of the Cross, priest
Friday of the 28th Week
Rom 4:1-8 • Ps 32
Lk 12:1-7

Courage under Persecution

1So many people were crowding together that they were trampling one another underfoot. [Jesus] began to speak, first to his disciples, “Beware of the leaven—that is, the hypocrisy—of the Pharisees.
2“There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. 3Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops. 4I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body but after that can do no more. 5I shall show you whom to fear. Be afraid of the one who after killing has the power to cast into Gehenna; yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one. 6Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins? Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God. 7Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.â€

[evolution8]

October 20, 2007

St. Artemius
Saturday of the 28th Week
Rom 4:13, 16-18 • Ps 105
Lk 12:8-12

Sayings about the holy Spirit

[Jesus said to his disciples,] 8“I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God. 9But whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God.
10“Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 11When they take you before synagogues and before rulers and authorities, do not worry about how or what your defense will be or about what you are to say. 12For the holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say.â€

[evolution8]

October 21, 2007

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Ex 17:8-13•Ps 121 •2 Tm 3:14—4:2
Lk 18:1-8

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

1[Jesus] told [his disciples] a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, 2“There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. 3And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, ‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’ 4For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, ‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, 5because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she fi nally come and strike me.’ â€

[evolution8]

October 22, 2007

St. Mary Salome
Monday of the 29th Week
Rom 4:20-25 • Lk 1
Lk 12:13-21

Parable of the Rich Fool

13Someone in the crowd said to [Jesus], “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.â€

[evolution8]

October 23, 2007

St. John of Capistrano, priest
Tuesday of the 29th Week
Rom 5:12, 15b, 17-19, 20b-21 • Ps 40
Lk 12:35-38

Vigilant and Faithful Servants

[Jesus said to his disciples,] 35“Gird your loins and light your lamps 36and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. 37Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. 38And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants.â€

[evolution8]

October 24, 2007

St. Anthony Mary Claret, bishop
Wednesday of the 29th Week
Rom 6:12-18 • Ps 124
Lk 12:39-48

Vigilant and Faithful Servants

[Jesus said to his disciples,] 39“Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.â€

[evolution8]

October 25, 2007

St. Daria
Thursday of the 29th Week
Rom 6:19-23 • Ps 1
Lk 12:49-53

Jesus: A Cause of Division

[Jesus said to his disciples,] 49“I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! 50There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! 51Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 52From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; 53a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.â€

[evolution8]

October 26, 2007

St. Alfred the Great
Friday of the 29th Week
Rom 7:18-25a • Ps 119
Lk 12:54-59

Signs of the Times

54[Jesus] said to the crowds, “When you see [a] cloud rising in the west you say immediately that it is going to rain—and so it does; 55and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south you say that it is going to be hot—and so it is. 56You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky; why do you not know how to interpret the present time?
57“Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? 58If you are to go with your opponent before a magistrate, make an effort to settle the matter on the way; otherwise your opponent will turn you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the constable, and the constable throw you into prison. 59I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.â€

[evolution8]

October 27, 2007

St. Frumentius
Saturday of the 29th Week
Rom 8:1-11 • Ps 24
Lk 13:1-9

A Call to Repentance

1Some people who were present told [Jesus] about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. 2He said to them in reply, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? 3By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! 4Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? 5By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!â€

[evolution8]

October 28, 2007

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sir 35:12-14, 16-18•Ps 34•2 Tm 4:6-8, 16-18
Lk 18:9-14

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

9[Jesus] addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. 10“Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. 11The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous—or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’ 13But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ 14I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.â€

[evolution8]

October 29, 2007

St. Eusebia
Monday of the 30th Week
Rom 8:12-17 • Ps 68
Lk 13:10-17

Cure of a Crippled Woman on the Sabbath

10[Jesus] was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath. 11And a woman was there who for eighteen years had been crippled by a spirit; she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect. 12When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said, “Woman, you are set free of your infirmity.â€

[evolution8]

October 30, 2007

St. Alphonsus Rodriguez
Tuesday of the 30th Week
Rom 8:18-25 • Ps 126
Lk 13:18-21

The Parables of the Mustard Seed and of the Yeast

18[Jesus] said, “What is the kingdom of God like? To what can I compare it? 19It is like a mustard seed that a person took and planted in the garden. When it was fully grown, it became a large bush and ‘the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches.’ â€

[evolution8]

October 31, 2007

St. Arnulf
Wednesday of the 30th Week
Rom 8:26-30 • Ps 13
Lk 13:22-30

Salvation and Rejection

22[Jesus] passed through towns and villages, teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem. 23Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?â€