In the first reading, God said that Abram will be a blessing to others and that by him all the families of the earth shall bless themselves. Abram was thus blessed by God because of how Abram listened, obeyed and kept to every word that God spoke to him. But all families of the earth cannot have physical contact with Abram, so we perceive that it aligns with God’s purpose that having drawn from Abram, who was (is) a blessing to us, we too must then be blessings to everyone that we meet. From the words of St. Paul, in the second reading, that God “called us with a holy calling, not in virtue of our works but in virtue of his own purpose and the grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus ages ago, there is the indication that our call to be blessings to others is in alignment with the purpose of God for us. The gospel reading then points us to the grace God gave us in Jesus Christ when it states God saying of Jesus Christ: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” We cannot be blessings to others without listening to Christ, because when we listen to Christ, then we enter deeply into and embrace the love of God, and then we communicate that as a rich blessing to all our brothers and sisters that we come across.
PRAYER FOR THE WEEK:
My God, you made Abram a blessing to others because he obeyed your words and loved you greatly. Help me emulate the example of Abram in keeping your words and loving you with all my heart, so that I too can be a blessing to all who come my way.
TRAIN A VIRTUE FOR CHRIST: (Hope) Have firm hope in God because He never fails.
MEDITATION POINTS FOR THE WEEK:
(a) why is hope needed for my future?
(b) Why is hope necessary?
(c) Is it better to hope in someone or something? Why
MEMORY VERSE FOR THE WEEK: And we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end. (Hebrew 6:11)
Write down below something from today’s homily. Reflect on it for the coming week
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BIBLE PASSAGES FOR DAILY REFLECTION
SUNDAY: PSALM 118
MONDAY: PSALM 18:1-25
TUESDAY: PSALM 39
WEDNESDAY: PSALM 19
THURSDAY: PSALM 23
FRIDAY: PSALM 51
SATURDAY: PSALM 18:26-50