Computer Cud    Vatican II asks us to read the Bible every day,   'to have a burning love'   for the Word of God      Resolution

This plan follows the Sunday liturgy:  reading + psalm + reading + gospel       From  www.simplebible.info         Previous R-R-P 

O Holy Spirit, please guide me as I read these passages for today.                     
May these passages give me hope, strength, wisdom, compassion, courage and peace for my daily life     Chinese text

Reading:  Isaiah 52, 53

See, my servant will prosper,
he shall be lifted up and exalted.

As the crowds were appalled on seeing him
- so disfigured did he look -
so will the crowds be astonished at him,
for they will see something that has never happened before.

Without beauty, without majesty,  we saw him.
He was despised and rejected,
a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering.
He was despised and we took no account of him.

And yet ours were the sufferings he bore,
ours the sorrows he carried.

He was pierced through for our faults,
crushed for our sins.

On him lies a punishment that brings us peace,
and through his wounds we are healed.

We had all gone astray like sheep,
and the Lord burdened him with our sins.

Harshly dealt with, he bore it humbly,
never opening his mouth.

He let himself be taken for a sinner,
and all the time he was suffering and praying for sinners.

Reflection: 
"he shall be lifted up and exalted" and "they will see something that has never happened before" can be understood to refer to Jesus' resurrection, just as most other words above refer to Jesus' passion. 
In our lives , every time of suffering has within it a seed of resurrection

Prayer: Jesus, these words refer to you. Thank you for all you suffered to redeem the world. May your resurrection give us hope in times of suffering

In you, O Lord, I take refuge.
Please hear me and help me.

Be a rock where I can take refuge.
Rescue me from people who want to hurt me.

It is you, O Lord, who are my hope.
In you I have trusted since I was young.

From my mother's womb you have been my help.
My hope has always been in you.

Now that I am old, please do not forget me.
Now that my strength fails, do not abandon me.

Now that I am old and grey-headed,
may I continue to trust in you and proclaim your help.

To you I will sing with the harp.
All day long my tongue will tell of your goodness to me.

Reflection: 
Looking back on God's goodness to us right through our lives
gives us hope and trust for the future

Prayer: Lord, may all elderly people put their trust and hope in you

In Ephesus there was a silversmith who employed many craftsmen making shrines of the local idol, Diana. The silversmith called a meeting of the city's silversmiths and said to them "Not just here in Ephesus, but in many parts of the region, this man Paul has converted many people with his argument that gods made by hand are not gods at all. This is a threat to our trade"

A mob was formed and dragged two of Paul's companions to a local theatre. The town clerk eventually calmed the mob and dismissed them

By now Paul had decided to leave Ephesus. He went to Greece and spent three months there

Reflection:
Two days ago I heard of a "university" in China which is just a money-making trade, with little regard for educational standards. Any good enterprise - a hospital , a school, religion itself - must avoid becoming "just a trade".

Prayer: Jesus, please help good works avoid the trap of becoming just a trade

Jesus spoke to his disciples about the future:

"On account of my name you will be hated, tortured and killed.
But the Good News of the kingdom will spread to every nation
before the end of the world.

At the end of the world, the sun and moon will stop shining.
Stars will fall from the sky.

Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky
and all peoples will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds
with power and glory.

He will send his angels with a loud trumpet
to gather good people from all parts of the earth.

Therefore you should live a good life,
and you will have nothing to fear on your last day."

Reflection: 
"The sign of the Son of Man" is understood by many writers to mean the Cross:
at the end of the world, there's going to be a Cross in the sky, visible all over the world, like the sun and the moon

Prayer: Jesus, by the grace of your Cross and Resurrection, please help me be a good person