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 us hope, wisdom, compassion, courage and peace for our daily life           Chinese text

  Reading:  Joshua 1

Joshua sent two men as spies to explore the Jericho area.
In Jericho they went to the house of Rahab the prostitute.

The king of Jericho was told about this 
and he sent men to capture the two Israelites.

But Rahab hid the men
and told the king that they had already gone.

Rahab said to the men in their hiding place on her roof:

"I know that the Lord has given you this land.
My people are afraid of you

We have heard how the Lord dried up the sea for your crossing
out of Egypt. We have heard how you defeated the 2 kings Sihon and Og.

Since I have shown you kindness
I now ask you to show kindness to my family
and spare their lives when you attack this city."

The men agreed and told Rahab
to tie a scarlet cord to her window
so the Israelites would know  her family  were inside.

Rahab helped the men go down from the window by a rope.
The men stayed in the nearby hills for 3 days until it was safe to leave.

The men returned to Joshua and told how the people of Jericho
were already trembling at the thought of an Israelite attack.

Reflection:
According to Matthew's Gospel, Rahab (in the story above) was an ancestor of King David and Jesus ....one of Jesus' ancestors was a prostitute. Jesus himself was a friend of prostitutes and tax collects. 

Prayer: Dear God, please bless all women and girls caught up in prostitution

Reading: Psalm 19

The heavens proclaim the glory of God,
the starry skies are the work of his hands.

The stars can't speak, but they are  God's handwriting.
The sun is God's love shining on  the whole world.

The universe is a masterpiece, and so is God's law
which shines in our hearts.

The precepts of the Lord enlighten our lives each day.
The law of the Lord gives joy and wisdom to our hearts.

The decrees of the Lord are to be desired more than gold,
they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.

But  often we are unaware of  our errors.
Lord, please protect us from making mistakes.

Reflection:
This psalm is about the sun and about the law.
It can be called  "the sun-in-law psalm"!
Once again we remember the famous words of Immanuel Kant:
"Two things awe me most: the starry sky above me and the moral law within me"

Prayer:  Lord, may the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart  be pleasing to you

Reading:  James 1

Be quick to listen, and slow to speak, and even slower to get angry.
God's goodness is never helped by human anger

Accept and submit to the word which has been planted in your heart and can save your soul

Do what the word tells you. Don't just listen to it. Actively put God's word into practice in your life

Reflection: 
It is recorded that as he become older, Matteo Ricci became a person of fewer and fewer words. Not a few older people are like this ....and usually such people are noted for their kindness towards others and acceptance of others
 
Prayer:  Jesus, help me be slower to speak ....and faster to listen

Reading:  John 5

Jesus again went up to Jerusalem for a Jewish festival. In a building near the Sheep Gate, he saw many sick people

One paralyzed man had been ill for 38 years.  Jesus said to him 
"Do you want to be well again?
Get up, pick up your bed and walk".

The man was healed at once. He picked up his bed and walked away.
After a while Jesus met him in the Temple and said to him "Now that you are well, do not sin any more"

Reflection:
Apart from this story and the one about the paralytic on the stretcher lowered through the roof, I can't think of any other time Jesus linked sickness and sin

Prayer:  Jesus, if my sickness is due to some sin, please forgive me and heal me