Weekly Guidelines
Read this week's guidelines and be nourished as you journey with our Community in Cebu.
 Loving like the TrinitySeptember 10-16, 2018 General Theme: The Holy Trinity within us and the Exercise of Fraternal Love General Objective: To live in the ordinary the extraordinary presence of the Holy Trinity in us Objective of the week: To learn how to love and build up our relationships, looking at how the Trinity relates to each other
INTRODUCTION Living with the Trinity helps us to be gradually grounded in faith in this constant and intimate relationship with them. Our confidence through faith and openness in our constant dialogue with the Trinity brings us to experience daily this intimate and loving relationship with them, making us witnesses of the profoundness of God's love for us. The Trinity is a mystery of love and communion. This week, let us contemplate the Trinitarian relationships: how the Father relates with the Son and with the Holy Spirit, how is unity built in diversity, and learn from them how we can build healthy relationships as well especially in the family, work, and community. How does living with the Trinity help us to build relationships in love and freedom from envy, jealousy, selfishness; in respect and reverence with each other; and in building communion, unity in the difference. How are my relationships? To live with the Trinity is to be in a daily constant school of love until we learn to love like them and with them. MONDAY Fortunate are you Matthew 13: 10-17 10 Then the disciples came to Jesus and asked him, “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?” 11 Jesus answered, “The knowledge about the secrets of the Kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 For the person who has something will be given more, so that he will have more than enough; but the person who has nothing will have taken away from him even the little he has. 13 The reason I use parables in talking to them is that they look, but do not see, and they listen, but do not hear or understand. 14 So the prophecy of Isaiah applies to them: ‘This people will listen and listen, but not understand; they will look and look, but not see, 15 because their minds are dull, and they have stopped up their ears and have closed their eyes. Otherwise, their eyes would see, their ears would hear, their minds would understand, and they would turn to me, says God, and I would heal them.’ 16 “As for you, how fortunate you are! Your eyes see and your ears hear. 17 I assure you that many prophets and many of God's people wanted very much to see what you see, but they could not, and to hear what you hear, but they did not. Fr. Jaime Bonet “There are no bad persons; there are only those who are ignorant of the love of God for them.” Romans 5:5 For the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who is God’s gift to us. Our relationship with the Trinity as Jesus’ disciples opens our hearts and minds to the understanding of God’s love within us. Yet not all are able to find this kind of relationship with the Trinity nor are they able to discover and see this treasure within. The Holy Trinity constantly calls us to be in this intimate relationship with them. In my daily life, am I allowing myself to be sensitive to the voice of the Love within me? TUESDAY May they all be one John 17: 20-23 20 “I pray not only for them, but also for those who believe in me because of their message. 21 I pray that they may all be one. Father! May they be in us, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they be one, so that the world will believe that you sent me. 22 I gave them the same glory you gave me, so that they may be one, just as you and I are one: 23 I in them and you in me, so that they may be completely one, in order that the world may know that you sent me and that you love them as you love me. The love of the Holy Trinity transcends human conditions. It is a love that desires communion. Only when we experience what it is to be loved by the Trinity can we learn to love as they do. The Trinity’s presence in us is marked by the love present in us. Am I convinced of God's love for me? In which particular moment in my reality now does the Holy Trinity move me to seek communion through loving? WEDNESDAY You belong to God who is Love The Most Holy Name of Mary 1 Cor 6: 18-20 18 Avoid immorality. Any other sin a man commits does not affect his body; but the man who is guilty of sexual immorality sins against his own body. 19 Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and who was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourselves but to God; 20 he bought you for a price. So use your bodies for God's glory. Living with the Trinity is to live with the love of God in us and from within us, building up healthy relationships in their love –the kingdom among us. The Trinity within us is the presence of God's kingdom. How do we establish our love to God and to others? THURSDAY Happy are you in His Love Memorial of St. John Chrysostom, Bishop, Doctor Matthew 5:3 “Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them! Matthew 10:7-8 7 Go and preach, ‘The Kingdom of heaven is near!’ 8 Heal the sick, bring the dead back to life, heal those who suffer from dreaded skin diseases, and drive out demons. You have received without paying, so give without being paid. The Holy Trinity within us empowers us to proclaim the Kingdom of heaven. The blessings we receive are meant to be shared through our relationships with others, allowing more space for God to live and reign in our hearts. Do I consider myself to be poor in spirit? How does my poverty inspire me to share the Kingdom of heaven to others? FRIDAY The Kingdom of Love within you Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross Luke 17:20-21 20 Some Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come. His answer was, “The Kingdom of God does not come in such a way as to be seen. 21 No one will say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’; because the Kingdom of God is within you.” The Kingdom of God is present within each and every one of us. Living in the Kingdom of God is living in relationships bonded by His love. Knowing that God's kingdom is in me and in others, how can I truly live and love myself and others that they too may grow in this kingdom of Love? In what ways can I proclaim it to the people I meet? SATURDAY Build your life in love Our Lady of Sorrows Phil 2: 1-11 1 Your life in Christ makes you strong, and his love comforts you. You have fellowship with the Spirit, and you have kindness and compassion for one another. 2 I urge you, then, to make me completely happy by having the same thoughts, sharing the same love, and being one in soul and mind. 3 Don't do anything from selfish ambition or from a cheap desire to boast, but be humble toward one another, always considering others better than yourselves. 4 And look out for one another's interests, not just for your own. 5 The attitude you should have is the one that Christ Jesus had: 6 He always had the nature of God, but he did not think that by force he should try to remain equal with God. 7 Instead of this, of his own free will he gave up all he had, and took the nature of a servant. He became like a human being and appeared in human likeness. 8 He was humble and walked the path of obedience all the way to death-- his death on the cross. 9 For this reason God raised him to the highest place above and gave him the name that is greater than any other name. 10 And so, in honor of the name of Jesus all beings in heaven, on earth, and in the world below will fall on their knees, 11 and all will openly proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Unity in humility entails kenosis, that is self-emptying, self-giving, and letting go of self for the sake of communion. The Trinity inspires us to live life for one another's interest with the attitude that Christ showed: humility and kindness. It is our self-giving which builds long and lasting relationships with God and our neighbors. How am I building my relationship with others? SUNDAY
24th Sunday in Ordinary Time 1st Reading Isaiah 50: 5-9 Responsorial Psalm Psalm 114 2nd Reading James 2: 14-18 Gospel Mark 8: 27-35 |
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