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 Bible Blogs 

O Holy Spirit, may these passages give me hope, strength, wisdom, compassion, courage and peace for my daily life          Chinese text

  Reading:  Hosea 5-6  

God's message through Hosea:

What am I to do with you, Ephraim?
What am I to do with you, Judah?

Your love is like a morning cloud,
like dew that quickly disappears.

What I want  is love, not the sacrifice of animals in the Temple.
What I want is knowledge of God, not burnt offerings in the Temple.

Reflection: 
Whether it's a marriage partner, an employee, a volunteer: one thing that everyone wants is someone who will "keep going"....not someone whose dedication "disappears quickly, like the dew". And God has the same hope - that our love will "keep going"

Prayer: Lord, please may our love for you "keep going" and never disappear

Reading:  Psalm 123

To you have I lifted up my eyes,
you who dwell in the heavens.

My eyes, like the eyes of slaves
on the hand of their lords.

Like the eyes of a servant on the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes are on the Lord our God till he show us mercy.

Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.
We are filled with contempt.

Indeed all too full is our soul with the scorn of the rich,
with the proud man's disdain.

Reflection:
"We are filled with contempt" ....contempt often goes with criticism.
See Criticism and Contempt

Prayer: Lord, please help me avoid criticism and contempt of others

Reading:  Romans 13

Avoid getting into debt, except the debt of love we owe each other.
Love other people as you should, and you will keep all the commandments

All the commandments concerning other people - You shall not commit adultery, you shall not kill, you shall not steal etc - are summed up in the words "You must care about your neighbor as much as you care about yourself"

Reflection:  
If our love is genuine, our actions will be of benefit to others and pleasing to God.
Which is why St Augustine could say "love God and do what you like" 

Prayer: Jesus, please help me be a bit more loving....a more loving person.
Please put a bit more love into my heart

Reading: Mark 8    

One day Jesus asked his disciples
"Who do people say I am?"

The disciples replied
"Some say you are one of the famous prophets".

Jesus then asked them "And who do you say I am?"
Peter answered "You are the Christ".

Jesus then explained to them
how he must go to Jerusalem to suffer, die and rise from the dead.

He also said
"If you want to be my disciple, you must deny yourself,
take up your own cross, and follow me.

Selfishness will ruin your life.
Self-sacrificing will bless your life.

What use is it to have everything in this world
yet miss out on Heaven?"

Reflection: 
Hosea and Paul speak of love. Jesus takes the conversation to a higher level:
real love has a strong element of self-sacrifice.  e.g. parents for children

Prayer: Jesus, please give me a stronger element of self-sacrifice in my love