God's Message For You - 03 April 2019
Rey Dionela
READINGS for 2019-04-03
GOD BELIEVES IN YOU! “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!” – Isaiah 49:15 In just one day in 1932, Pablo Picasso painted Nude, Green Leaves and Bust. Seventy-eight years after, in 2010, guess how much his painting was sold? A whopping $106.5 million. That’s over five billion pesos for just one painting! Picasso recalls what his mother told him as a child: “If you become a soldier, you’ll be a general. If you become a monk, you’ll end up as the pope.” He became a painter and ended up as Pablo Picasso. That’s the power of a mother’s loving confidence in a child! If you have such a mom, thank God, then thank her. Or you might say, “I wish my mother was as affirming.” If you didn’t have a mom like Picasso’s, see yourself differently today. You have a Father who says to you right now, “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast... Though she may forget, I will not forget you!” (Isaiah 49:15). Translation: “Child, you are always in My sight. I Am always with you. I love you. I believe in you. Be all you can be. The whole of heaven and I are cheering for you!” Marc V. Lopez (marcvl...@gmail.com) Reflect: Do you believe that God believes in you? Well, He does! Father, how do You see me? (Pause, close your eyes, and listen.) St. Benedict the African, pray for us. |
1st READING Isaiah speaks of a triumphant return home from exile. This is what Christian discipleship is about today—returning from the exile of our sinfulness to the life of grace, in preparation for heaven and eternal life. We need to be committed disciples who seek God’s direction for our lives and follow it well. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to guide and mentor us. Isaiah 49:8-15 8 Thus says the Lord: In a time of favor I answer you, on the day of salvation I help you, and I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people, to restore the land and allot the desolate heritages, 9 saying to the prisoners: Come out! To those in darkness. Show yourselves! Along the ways they shall find pasture, on every bare height shall their pastures be. 10They shall not hunger or thirst, nor shall the scorching wind or the sun strike them; for he who pities them leads them and guides them beside springs of water. 11 I will cut a road through all my mountains, and make my highways level. 12 See, some shall come from afar, others from the north and the west, and some from the land of Syene. 13 Sing out, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth, break forth into song, you mountains. For the Lord comforts his people and shows mercy to his afflicted. 14But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.” 15 Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you. PSALM Psalm 145:8-9, 13-14, 17-18 R: The Lord is gracious and merciful. 8 The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. 9 The Lord is good to all and compassionate toward all his works. (R) 13 The Lord is faithful in all his words and holy in all his works. 14 The Lord lifts up all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. (R) 17 The Lord is just in all his ways and holy in all his works. 18 The Lord is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth. (R)
Jesus speaks to us of doing good deeds. Good deeds are the best gauge of how holy we are. Through our actions, people can see the Holy Spirit’s transformation within us. Good deeds manifest to the world our inner transformation and growth in holiness, and become the means by which we can draw others into a personal relationship with Jesus. GOSPEL ACCLAMATION I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord; whoever believes in me will never die. John 5:17-30 17 Jesus answered the Jews: “My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.” 18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the sabbath but he also called God his own father, making himself equal to God. 19 Jesus answered and said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, a Son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees his father doing; for what he does, The Son will do also. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything that he himself does, and he will show him greater works than these, so that you may be amazed. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes. 22 Nor does the Father judge anyone, but he has given all judgment to the Son, 23 so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24 Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to life. 25 Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he gave to the Son the possession of life in himself. 27 And he gave him power to exercise judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not be amazed at this, because the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and will come out, those who have done good deeds to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked deeds to the resurrection of condemnation. 30 “I cannot do anything on my own; I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me.” think: What good thing is Jesus asking you to do today? For whom and in what way will you do this? ______________________________ ______________________________
T O D A Y’S BLESSING LIST thank You, Lord, for: ____________________
Read the Bible in one year - Exodus 13-15 |
REAL LINKS People say that I am the spitting image of my father—I look like him, talk like him, move like him, and I have his character. What a comparison—hopefully not a disturbing one but one that compliments both of us. We have our own comparisons and links with one another. We have bountiful lives, especially if we see it in communion with the good and blessed life of another. At a certain point in His life, Jesus was accused of blasphemy because He not only linked Himself with the Father but also identified Himself as God’s Son. Jesus was not boasting but spoke of this relationship as a matter of fact. His was a communion with God that went beyond family ties. It was about a life of authentic relationship, of living the heart of the Father. Do we have a close relationship with our parents? Or do we just look like them or have their character? Do we have the same heart as theirs? Do we possess their goodness and values? Perhaps the accusation of blasphemy can be thrown at those who dishonor the goodness and greatness of the people whom they are supposed to follow and have heartfelt relationships with. Jesus was accused of blasphemy because His accusers only considered the religious laws. They did not see the depth of an honest-to-goodness relationship, building up to a communion of lives that fulfills Gospel values and divine realities. This is something we must all aim for. Otherwise, what will our relationships be about? Fr. Joel Victorino ------- REFLECTION QUESTION ------- Do you honor God by being in full communion with His will and desire for you at each moment of your life?
I struggle to live in full communion with You, O Lord. Help me with Your grace. Amen. Today, I pray for: __________________________ |