October 1, 2008 (Wednesday)

DIDACHE

KEEP PLOWING

“Anyone who starts to plow and then keeps looking back is of no use for the Kingdom of God.” – Luke 9:62

When people ask me, “How are you able to do all that you do?” I always answer, “I’ve got great friends.” Let me introduce some of them.

Pio Español left a lucrative job to work fulltime as a leader of the Light of Jesus Community (LOJC). He now serves as our missionary in America and Canada. Hermie Morelos, despite being the president of a huge company and father of five kids, still managed to serve as the leader of LOJC for many years. Jill Ramiscal was president of a couple of San Miguel subsidiaries, yet served God managing Shepherd’s Voice, the publisher of Didache. After his retirement, instead of playing golf the whole day, he has chosen to continue serving God as our president. Roy Pasimio is our missionary to New Zealand and Australia. Even while he cares for a daughter with cancer, he continues to preach and build communities. And Tim Duran, at 68, still serves as over-all director for Anawim.

These five men are just a part of the team who serves with me. They served and they’re still at it, year in and year out.

Dear reader, imitate my great friends. Bo Sanchez

REFLECTION:
Keep plowing. Never look back.

Lord, hone my skills, make me of good use for Your Kingdom.

COMPANION

1st READING

Job is certain that is not his place to challenge the wisdom of God. He cannot believe that God would be in the wrong. He is right, of course; nevertheless, it seems that Job’s arguments are not good enough for some people today who regularly question whether God knows what He is doing with them, or more broadly, with the world.

Job 9: 1-12 , 14-16
1 Job answered and said: 2 I know well that it is so; but how can a man be justified before God? 3 Should one wish to contend with him, he could not answer him once in a thousand times. 4 God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has withstood him and remained unscathed? 5 He removes the mountains before they know it; he overturns them in his anger. 6 He shakes the earth out of its place, and the pillars beneath it tremble. 7 He commands the sun, and it rises not; he seals up the stars. 8 He alone stretches out the heavens and treads upon the crests of the sea. 9 He made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south; 10 he does great things past finding out, marvelous things beyond reckoning. 11 Should he come near me, I see him not; should he pass by, I am not aware of him; 12 should he seize me forcibly, who can say him nay? Who can say to him, “What are you doing?” 14 How much less shall I give him any answer, or choose out arguments against him! 15 Even though I were right, I could not answer him, but should rather beg for what was due me. 16 If I appealed to him and he answered my call, I could not believe that he would hearken to my words.

P S A L M

Psalm 88: 10bc-11, 12-13, 14-15
R: Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
9 [10] Daily I call upon you, O LORD; to you I stretch out my hands. 10 [11] Will you work wonders for the dead? Will the shades arise to give you thanks? (R) 11 [12] Do they declare your mercy in the grave, your faithfulness among those who have perished? 12 [13] Are your wonders made known in the darkness, or your justice in the land of oblivion? (R) 13 [14] But I, O LORD, cry out to you; with my morning prayer I wait upon you. 14 [15] Why, O LORD, do you reject me; why hide from me your face? (R)

G O S P E L

Jesus tells His disciples that the decision to follow Him has consequences. One of those consequences is that we are not to return or look back on our original way of life. That is, if we choose to follow Him, we recognize that this is exclusive of the other options in our life! We know this and are happy to make the decision. It may not be easy to exclude certain options from our life, but this is exactly what discipleship is all about.

Luke 9: 57-62
57 As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding on their journey someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” 59 And to another he said, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” 60 But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” 62 Jesus answered him, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.”

my reflections
think: If we choose to follow Jesus, we recognize that this is exclusive of the other options in our life!

_________________________________________________________

God’s special verse/thought for me today________________
_________________________________________________________

T O D A Y ’ S BLESSING LIST
Thank You Lord for: ____________________________________
_______________________________________________________
READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Songs 1-4


PERSONAL MISSION STATEMENT
The ultimate purpose of my life
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________

GOALS FOR THE QUARTER
Priority areas God wants me to work on
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________

PRAYER SHEET FOR
Things I will pray for regularly
MY LIFE

DATE PERSONAL NEED DATE GOD’S ANSWERS
When I “Until now, you have not When the “Ask and you shall receive,
started asked for anything in My Name.” answer that your joy may be full.”
praying - John 16: 24a came - John 16: 24b

PRAYER SHEET FOR

Things I will pray for regularly MY LIFE

EVANGELISM LIST CARING LIST
People God wants me to People God wants me to
bring closer to Him pray for and show more love to

SABBATH

LIVING WITH THE CHOICES WE MAKE

One of the signs of a person of integrity is their willingness to see through to the end the projects they start. Jesus reflects this idea in the Gospel when He tells His disciples that once they start out on the path of discipleship, turning back is never an option to consider. In other words, as we set out to follow Jesus, let us be sure that we are ready to follow this decision through whatever difficulties and hardships we might encounter.

Unfortunately, one of the attitudes that seems to be growing more and more prevalent, particularly in young people, is that of giving up as soon as any sort of difficulty or hardship arises in the course of their lives. This often occurs within marriages. Nearly half of all marriages end in separation or divorce because couples are unwilling to work through difficulties that occur in their relationships. Thus, the response when a difficulty arises is to run away from it and give up on the marriage. Such a response makes a mockery of commitment and true love. True love will not be daunted by the size of any problem. It will always find a way to overcome any difficulty.

Therese of Lisieux is looked on as a saint whose vocation was to love. She desired many things in her life and discovered that she could achieve them all through loving the people God placed in her life. Therese discovered this was not always easy. Some of the most difficult people to love are those we are closest! Yet, God will always give us the grace to find a way to love them because He is a God of love. Therese stands as a great example to us of what it means to see through a commitment to the end no matter what it entails for us. In being faithful to her call, she discovered that her desires could be fulfilled, though in ways that at first she was unaware were possible.

As we think today of the many commitments we have made to God, ourselves and others, let us allow the example of Therese and her intercession to inspire and help us to be faithful to them all. Fr. Steve Tynan

Reflection Question:
Do I finish the things I begin? Am I committed to following Jesus as His disciple no matter where He leads me?

Holy Spirit, thank You for Your grace and strength in my life. Help me to be faithful to God’s call in all its details and to persevere in it to the end.

St. Bavo, hermit, pray for us.

September 30, 2008 (Tuesday)

DIDACHE

UP TO JERUSALEM

…he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem… – Luke 9:51

For Jesus, going to Jerusalem was a crucial decision which meant He concretely accepted the will of His Father. It was a break from a “good” life in Galilee and a move to an uncertain future in accordance to the Father’s plan. My own “going up to Jerusalem” happened in February 1991 when my wife and I decided to join a Catholic Life in the Spirit Seminar in our parish. I was then enjoying a “good life” working in a multinational firm. Everything was well. On the last day of the seminar, right after the baptism of the Holy Spirit, it dawned on me: I was being called to follow Jesus Christ.

For the longest time, I was a reluctant Catholic who, day after day, postponed my decision to launch on the road towards my “Jerusalem.” Well, not anymore.

From the day we completed the CLSS to the present, I have been deeply involved in our parish-based prayer community, in the works of the church and the neighborhood Bible study group.

Now, 16 years later, I am most assured of God’s love, of His fidelity to His promises, of final victory.
I no longer crave for my Galilee. Bannie Lucas

REFLECTION:
I have to continually break away from material securities to turn myself from Galilean tranquility, out of faithfulness to the Lord.

Lord, even if the situation is critical, let our internal convictions remain firm and our commitment total. Amen.

St. Jerome, priest and doctor of the Church, pray for us.

COMPANION

1st READING

Job laments the level of suffering he has to endure and suggests that it would be better if he had never been born. That is saying something, considering the blessed life he lived before his present troubles. Perhaps it also indicates to us how easily we forget the times of blessing when hardships come upon us. We can tend to be very ungrateful in our relationship with God. Yet we know that Job will be restored as he accepts God’s will and refuses to curse Him for the time of trial. Let us seek to look forward to the promise of blessing no matter how difficult the present trials may be.

Job 3:1-3, 11-17, 20-23
1 Job opened his mouth and cursed his day. 2 Job spoke out and said: 3 Perish the day on which I was born, the night when they said, “The child is a boy!” 11 Why did I not perish at birth, come forth from the womb and expire? 12 [16] Or why was I not buried away like an untimely birth, like babes that have never seen the light? 13 [12] Wherefore did the knees receiveme? or why did I suck at the breasts? 14 [13] For then I should have lain down and been tranquil; had I slept, I should then have been at rest. 15 [14] With kings and counselors of the earth who built where now there are ruins 16 [15] Or with princes who had gold and filled their houses with silver. 17 There the wicked cease from troubling, there the weary are at rest. 20 Why is light given to the toilers, and life to the bitter in spirit? 21 They wait for death and it comes not; they search for it rather than for hidden treasures, 22 rejoice in it exultingly, and are glad when they reach the grave 23 men whose path is hidden from them, and whom God has hemmed in!

P S A L M

Psalm 88:2-3, 4-5, 6, 7-8
R: Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
1 [2] O LORD, my God, by day I cry out; at night I clamor in your presence. 2 [3] Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my call for help. (R) 3 [4] For my soul is surfeited with troubles and my life draws near to the nether world. 4 [5] I am numbered with those who go down into the pit; I am a man without strength. (R) 5 [6] My couch is among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no longer and who are cut off from your care. (R) 6 [7] You have plunged me into the bottom of the pit, into the dark abyss. 7 [8] Upon me your wrath lies heavy, and with all your billows you overwhelm me. (R)

G O S P E L

Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Jerome, one of the saints who had a great love for the Scriptures. As we reflect upon the Gospel call to have mercy on those who reject the Gospel, we can remember the many times when Jesus persevered with the people in their lack of faith; when God persevered in love and mercy with the Children of Israel and their unfaithfulness to Him. God has shown us mercy in our lives. This ought to be enough to cause us to show mercy to others when they hurt us.

Luke 9:51-56

51 When the days for Jesus being taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem, 52 and he sent messengers ahead of him. On the way they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for his reception there, 53 but they would not welcome him because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John saw this they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” 55 Jesus turned and rebuked them, 56 and they journeyed to another village.

my reflections
think: God has shown us mercy in our lives. This ought to be enough to cause us to show mercy to others when they hurt us.

_______________________________________________________

God’s special verse/thought for me today________________
_________________________________________________________

T O D A Y ’ S BLESSING LIST
Thank You Lord for: ____________________________________
_______________________________________________________
READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Ecclesiastes 9-12
REVIEW OF THE QUARTER

Did I fulfill my last Quarter Goals?
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
What were the most important words the Lord gave to me this quarter?
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
What were my greatest blessings these past three months?
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
What are my most pressing needs for the next quarter?
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

NOTES:
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

SABBATH

Knowing Scriptures, Knowing Christ

With the present-day “boom” in Bible study groups and courses, all of us can have recourse to our saint of today. He is St. Jerome, the great Scripture scholar and translator.

He is most well known for that striking statement, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” We are affirmed in our efforts to know more deeply God’s Word, for in it we encounter the very person It is stated that “[w]hen the days for his being taken up were fulfilled, [Jesus] resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem.” This verse marks a turning point in Luke’s Gospel: the Galilean ministry of Jesus ends, and He now begins His journey to Jerusalem. Just as Jesus’ Galilean ministry began with a rejection of Jesus in His own hometown, so too now this travel narrative runs parallel by beginning with an episode of rejection by the Samaritans.

But Jesus isn’t one to be easily cowed by rejection. Neither does He give in to vengeful punishments as James and John would. His was a no-nonsense resoluteness and an urgency which will waste no time with petty conflicts. Reading between the lines of this Gospel passage will make us discover an allusion to an episode involving the prophet Elijah (2 Kings 1:10-12). Elijah ordered fire from heaven to come down and burn two captains and their contingents of 50 men each, all of whom were sent to capture him. With Jesus’ rejection of such violent means to punish the unreceptive Samaritans, He is also in effect rejecting the identification of Himself with Elijah.

There is the ever-valid identification between Jesus Christ and the Scriptures. For all of us Bible readers, students and devotees, the typical disclaimer should not hold true concerning God’s Word — for in the Bible, “any resemblance to real life persons is completely and entirely intentional.” May St. Jerome be guide towards a deeper study — and a more authentic living out — of the Bible. Fr. Martin Macasaet

Reflection Question:
Do you regularly read and reflect on the Bible?

Enable me to know You more, O Lord, through the Scriptures.

St. Jerome, priest and doctor of the Church, pray for us.