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 16  

Abraham and his wife Sarah had been married many years
but they did not have any children.

So Sarah said to Abraham,
"Take my slave Hagar and have children by her."

When Hagar bore a son, 
Sarah was jealous and treated Hagar badly.

Hagar ran away from home, but God said to her
"Go back to your mistress and submit to her; 
I will bless all your descendants."

Reflection: 
God doesn't care only about the main actors (Abraham, Sarah).
He cares about the whole cast (Hagar and son).
He cares about every single actor (= person) in the Play of Life

Prayer: Dear God, please help me care more about the minor actors in my life 

Reading: Psalm 146

My soul, give praise to the Lord.
I will praise the Lord all my days.

Put no trust in princes,
in mortal men in whom there is no help.

Take their breath, they return to clay
and their plans that day come to nothing.

They are happy who are helped by Jacob's God,
whose hope is in the Lord our God,

who alone made heaven and earth,
the seas and all they contain.

It is he who gives bread to the hungry,
the Lord, who sets prisoners free.

It is the Lord who gives sight to the blind,
who raises up those who are bowed down.

It is the Lord who protects the stranger
and upholds the widow and orphan.

It is the Lord who loves the just
but thwarts the path of the wicked.

The Lord will reign for ever,
Zion's God, from age to age.

Reflection:
"Put no trust in princes".....we can show trust to human leaders, in politics and in the Church, but our deepest trust is in the One who made heaven and earth.

Prayer: God who made heaven and earth ....please make things better in politics and in the Church

Reading:  1 Corinthians 13

If I am the most brilliant speaker, but don't have love, I am just a gong booming

If I understand all mysteries, and if I have a faith that will move mountains, but don't have love, I am nothing 

Love is always patient and kind. It is never jealous, never boastful, never conceited, never rude or selfish

Love does not take offence. It's not resentful. Love delights in the truth

Love is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope and to endure whatever comes

Love is virtue Number One, greater than faith or hope

Reflection: 
Love-less words ....from parents/teachers/pastors/politicians....are just booming gongs.

Prayer: Jesus, please stop me from being just a gong booming

Reading: Mark 14

Two days before the Passover festival,
the religious leaders kept looking for a way to arrest Jesus and have him put to death

During these days Jesus had a meal at the home of Simon the leper.
At the meal, a woman put expensive burial oil on Jesus' head.
The woman understood  that Jesus was soon to die

One of Jesus' 12 apostles, Judas Iscariot, went to the religious leaders and offered to help them arrest Jesus at a convenient time

The leaders promised to give Judas money.
Judas looked for an opportunity to arrange the arrest

Reflection:
The full version of the above story says Judas complained that using expensive oil was a waste of money .....and he didn't really care about saving money....he used to steal from the common fund.  And a promise of money was his price for betraying Jesus.  We don't all that much about Judas, but money certainly played an unhealthy role in his life

Prayer Jesus,  please don't let money play an unhealthy role in my life