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:  Genesis 14-15  

In the land of Canaan there were many kings.
Sometimes they went to war against each other.

Melchizedek, king of Salem, was also a priest of God.
Abraham gave Melchizedek 10% of all his possessions.
Melchizedek gave Abraham bread and wine.

Melchizedek asked God to give Abraham a special blessing.

God said to Abraham, "This land of Canaan is yours;
 I give it to you and your descendants."

Reflection: 
From this story comes the practice of giving 10% - "tithing".
Some Christian groups encourage/persuade/force their members to tithe,
but tithing is not a New Testament practice - see this article - and the practice of tithing is sometimes used by greedy pastors to line their own pockets or build ever-larger meeting places

Prayer: Dear God, please help me be generous to the needs of the Church and the needs of the poor - as much as my situation allows

Reading: Psalm 145

I will give you glory, O God my king.
I will bless your name day after day.

The Lord is great, worthy of all praise.
His greatness cannot be measured.

Age to age shall proclaim your works,
shall speak of your splendor and glory.

The Lord is kind and full of compassion,
slow to anger, abounding in love.

How good is the Lord to all,
compassionate to all his creatures.

All your creatures shall thank you, O Lord,
and tell all the world of your love.

The Lord is faithful in all his words
and loving in all his deeds.

The Lord supports all who fall
and raises all who are bowed down.

The eyes of all creatures look to you
and you give them their food each day.

The Lord is close to all who call him,
who call on him from their hearts.

Let the whole world bless the Lord's holy name,
for ever, for ages unending.

Reflection:
When a parent or spouse is dying, the one thing children or spouse say is "thank you for your love". That sums up everything else.
Same with God. 
And as we get older, we pray more simply in words that sum up everything else:

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for your love. Thank you for your love

Reading:  1 Corinthians 12

A human body is made of many parts: arms, legs, muscles, eyes etc.
Every part is important and needed for the body to be healthy

The church is like a body. We are the body's members. Some of us are apostles,
some prophets, some teachers etc.

The members of the church must care about every member of the church. Everyone is important. The spiritual health of each member affects the health of the whole body

Reflection: 
What I do, think or say ...influences many other people...for good or bad.
c.f. climate change ....the whole world is affected by my concern or lack of concern about climate change. The concern of a million people produces a cleaner atmosphere.
The lack of concern of a million people produces a polluted atmosphere. 
My tiny actions affect not just physical climate conditions, but also intellectual and moral and spiritual conditions

Prayer: Jesus, help me be more concerned about the physical, intellectual and spiritual climatic conditions of our world

Reading: Mark 13

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:
Many Christian writers and Bible scholars understand "the sign of the Son of Man" to mean Jesus' Cross....some day it will appear in the sky, like the sun or moon, for all the world to see. Wow!  Then Jesus will appear with "the sign". The Son will appear like the sun!

Prayer Jesus, please help me live and grow and die in your love...
and so not be afraid of death