Daily Gospel (2720)
March 10, 2021
Written by Super UserGospel: Mt 5:17-19
Do not think that I have come to annul the Law and the Prophets. I have not come to annul them but to fulfill them. I tell you
this: as long as heaven and earth last, not the smallest letter or dot in the Law will change until all is fulfilled.
So then, whoever breaks the least important of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be the
March 9, 2021
Written by Super UserGospel: Mt 18:21-35*
Then Peter asked him, “Lord, how many times must I forgive the offenses of my brother or sister? Seven times?” Jesus answered, “No,
not seven times, but seventy-seven times. This story throws light on the kingdom of Heaven: A king decided to settle accounts with
his servants. Among the first of them was one who owed him ten thousand pieces of gold. (...)The servant threw himself at the feet of the
king and said, ‘Give me time, and I will pay you back everything.’ The king took pity on him, and not only set him free, but even cancelled
March 8, 2021
Written by Super UserGospel: Lk 4:24-30
Jesus added, “No prophet is honored in his own country. Truly, I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of
Elijah, when the heavens withheld rain for three years and six months and a great famine came over the whole land. Yet Elijah
was not sent to any of them, but to a widow of Zarephath, in the country of Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time
March 7, 2021
Written by Super UserGospel: Jn 2:13–25 (or Jn 4:5-42)
As the Passover of the Jews was at hand, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple court he found merchants selling oxen, sheep and doves, and moneychangers
seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple court, together with the oxen and sheep. He knocked over the tables of the
money-changers, scattering the coins, and ordered the people selling doves, “Take all this away, and stop making a marketplace of my Father’s house!” His disciples recalled
the words of Scripture: Zeal for your House devours me like fire. The Jews then questioned Jesus, “Where are the miraculous signs which give you the right to do
this?” And Jesus said, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then replied, “The building of this temple has already taken forty-six years,
and will you raise it up in three days?” Actually, Jesus was referring to the temple of his body. Only when he had risen from the dead did his disciples remember these
words; then they believed both the Scripture and the words Jesus had spoken. Jesus stayed in Jerusalem during the Passover Festival, and many believed in his name,
when they saw the miraculous signs he performed. But Jesus did not trust himself to them, because he knew all of them. He had no need of evidence about anyone,
for he himself knew what there was in each one.
Lectio Divina:
READ: Jesus is in Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. He got angry seeing the vicinity of
the Temple being turned into a commercial space. He drove out the merchants and money
lenders. Jesus’ action is later understood by His disciples in the light of His Resurrection.
REFLECT: Jesus got angry at the robust commerce that sprang around the Temple of
Jerusalem. After all, at any given day, more so during the Sabbath, the Temple attracts a
lot of faithful. Because of this, the Temple authorities made use of the Courts of Gentile as
a commercial space. The Temple must have earned huge sums of money for its rent. More
so, some enterprising priests who inspect the offered animals brought by the people have
reasons to reject the offering because of imagined blemish. The people in turn will be forced
to buy from animal sellers who charges exorbitant fees for their goods. These sellers will
forward the priests’ share of the cost for facilitating the sale afterwards. This is not a secret.
Everybody knows but nobody has the strength to confront the system. That is, until Jesus
comes along. He criticized the commerce arising from the devotion of people. He reminds
everyone that the Temple is a house of prayer. Because of this, He placed Himself in the
line of danger. He now confronts the religious authorities who tolerated this happening
in the Temple itself.
RESPOND: When we are in sacred places, let us put premium to the encounter of God and
set aside our mentality to do commerce. Even our prayers must be devoid of anything that
smacks of making transaction with God. We don’t have to do it. God knows what we need.
So no coercion of God to do something for the promised number of novenas we will make,
the candles we will light, and the masses or donations we will offer as long as He answers
our petition. We don’t have to trade anything to receive God’s grace.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2021
March 6, 2021
Written by Super UserGospel: Lk 15:1-3, 11-32*
(...) Jesus continued, “There was a man with two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Give me my share of the estate.’ So
the father divided his property between them Some days later, the younger son gathered all his belongings and started off
for a distant land, where he squandered his wealth in loose living. Having spent everything, he was hard pressed when a
severe famine broke out in that land. (...) Finally coming to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have food
to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will get up and go back to my father(...) He was still a long way off, when his
father caught sight of him. His father was so deeply moved with compassion that he ran out to meet him, threw his arms around his
neck and kissed him. The son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.’
But the father turned to his servants: ‘Quick!’ he said. ‘Bring out the finest robe and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger and sandals
on his feet! Take the fattened calf and kill it! We shall celebrate and have a feast, for this son of mine was dead, and has come back
to life; he was lost, and is found!’(...)
Reflection:
In terms of freedom, the father in the story is the freest. His love for his two
sons enabled him to navigate difficult situations without loss of dignity. His youngest
son is imprisoned in a desire to explore the world on his own. To decide and chart his destiny far
from the guidance and loving intervention of his father. Thus he did what is considered
disrespectful at that time. He asked for his inheritance while his father is alive. Then
he squandered it in resolute living and comes back to his senses after all was lost and
he is in dire need. Meantime the eldest is imprisoned in his desire to earn the love of
his father. He stayed behind seemingly the dutiful son. But his heart is wounded. And so
the youngest son comes back to freedom when he returned to his loving father. The eldest was
liberated from his idea that he is only loved if he performs when his father told him that all his
father has is his to dispose. He need not ask permission. The love of the father that remained
steady despite the rudeness of his youngest, and the outburst of his eldest saves them all.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2021
March 5, 2021
Written by Super UserGospel: Mt 21:33-43, 45-46*
Listen to another example: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a hole for the
winepress, built a watchtower, leased the vineyard to tenants, and then went to a distant country. When harvest time came,
the landowner sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the harvest. But the tenants seized his servants, beat
one, killed another, and stoned a third. (...) Finally, he sent his son, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants
saw the son, they thought, ‘This is the one who is to inherit the vineyard. Let us kill him, and his inheritance will be ours.’ So they
seized him, threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Now, what will the owner of the vineyard do with the tenants when
he comes?” They said to him, “He will bring those evil men to an evil end, and lease the vineyard to others, who will pay him in due
time.” And Jesus replied, “Have you never read what the Scriptures say? The stone which the builders rejected has become
the cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, and we marvel at it. (...)
Reflection:
The hostilities between Jesus and the religious authorities have now
reached a point when confrontation is inevitable. They tried to court Jesus
so that He could be one of them thereby strengthening their own authorities by
recruiting the latest wonder boy that appeared from nowhere. But Jesus does
not buy the teachings of the established religious authorities. He finds their
legalistic interpretation of the Law as stifling the spirit of the Law. Thus they
see each other in opposite divide. Jesus in this gospel further split Himself apart
from them. He told in plain words that they will not inherit the kingdom for they
did not respect the prophets sent by God, nor His only Son. The die is cast. From
that time on, the religious authorities will seek His downfall.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2021
March 4, 2021
Written by Super UserGospel: Lk 16:19-31*
Once there was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen and feasted every day. At his gate lay Lazarus, a poor man
covered with sores, who longed to eat just the scraps falling from the rich man’s table. (...) It happened that the poor man died, and
angels carried him to take his place with Abraham. The rich man also died, and was buried. From hell, where he was in torment,
March 3, 2021
Written by Super UserGospel: Mt 20:17-28*
When Jesus was going to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, “See, we are going to Jerusalem. There
the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the Law, and they will condemn him to death. They will hand
him over to the foreigners, who will mock him, scourge him and crucify him. But he will be raised to life on the third day.” Then the
March 2, 2021
Written by Super UserGospel: Mt 23:1-12
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees have sat down on the chair of Moses.
So you shall do and observe all they say; but do not do as they do, for they do not do what they say. They tie up heavy burdens and load
them on the shoulders of the people, but they do not even lift a finger to move them. They do everything in order to be seen by people:
March 1, 2021
Written by Super UserGospel: Lk 6:36-38
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Don’t be a judge of others and you will
not be judged; do not condemn and you will not be condemned; forgive and you
will be forgiven; give and it will be given to you, and you will receive in your sack good
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February 28, 2021
Written by Super UserGospel: Mk 9:2-10
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain. There his appearance was changed before their eyes. Even
his clothes shone, becoming as white as no bleach of this world could make them. Elijah ands Moses appeared to them; the two were talking with Jesus. Then Peter
spoke and said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” For he did not know what
February 27, 2021
Written by Super UserGospel: Mt 5:43-48
You have heard that it was said: Love your neighbor and do not do good to your enemy. But this I tell you: love your enemies,
and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in Heaven. For he makes his sun rise on both
February 26, 2021
Written by Super UserGospel: Mt 5:20-26
I tell you, if your sense of right and wrong is not keener than that of the Lawyers and the Pharisees, you will not
enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to our people in the past: Do not commit murder;
anyone who murders will have to face trial. But now I tell you: whoever gets angry with a brother or sister will have to face
Fenruary 25, 2021
Written by Super UserGospel: Mt 7:7-12
Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks, receives; whoever
seeks, finds; and to him who knocks the door will be opened. Would any of you give a stone to your son, when he asks for bread?