A Christian’s goal should be to create the Kingdom of God here on earth just as it is in Heaven. Not just to get to Heaven.
To finish the Bible in one year, Read Leviticus 21,22, & Romans 8 : 1-27
Old Testament Reading for today Leviticus 21,22,
Leviticus 21
1 And the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them that none of them shall defile himself for the dead among his people, 2 except for his nearest of kin, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, 3 or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may defile himself). 4 He shall not defile himself as a husband among his people and so profane himself. 5 They shall not make tonsures upon their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuttings in their flesh. 6 They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God; for they offer the offerings by fire to the LORD, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. 7 They shall not marry a harlot or a woman who has been defiled; neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband; for the priest is holy to his God. 8 You shall consecrate him, for he offers the bread of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I the LORD, who sanctify you, am holy. 9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing the harlot, profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire. 10 “The priest who is chief among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil is poured, and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not let the hair of his head hang loose, nor rend his clothes; 11 he shall not go in to any dead body, nor defile himself, even for his father or for his mother; 12 neither shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the LORD. 13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity. 14 A widow, or one divorced, or a woman who has been defiled, or a harlot, these he shall not marry; but he shall take to wife a virgin of his own people, 15 that he may not profane his children among his people; for I am the LORD who sanctify him.” 16 And the LORD said to Moses, 17 “Say to Aaron, None of your descendants throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the bread of his God. 18 For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long, 19 or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand,
Leviticus 22
1 And the LORD said to Moses, 2 “Tell Aaron and his sons to keep away from the holy things of the people of Israel, which they dedicate to me, so that they may not profane my holy name; I am the LORD. 3 Say to them, ‘If any one of all your descendants throughout your generations approaches the holy things, which the people of Israel dedicate to the LORD, while he has an uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from my presence: I am the LORD. 4 None of the line of Aaron who is a leper or suffers a discharge may eat of the holy things until he is clean. Whoever touches anything that is unclean through contact with the dead or a man who has had an emission of semen, 5 and whoever touches a creeping thing by which he may be made unclean or a man from whom he may take uncleanness, whatever his uncleanness may be– 6 the person who touches any such shall be unclean until the evening and shall not eat of the holy things unless he has bathed his body in water. 7 When the sun is down he shall be clean; and afterward he may eat of the holy things, because such are his food. 8 That which dies of itself or is torn by beasts he shall not eat, defiling himself by it: I am the LORD.’ 9 They shall therefore keep my charge, lest they bear sin for it and die thereby when they profane it: I am the LORD who sanctify them. 10 “An outsider shall not eat of a holy thing. A sojourner of the priest’s or a hired servant shall not eat of a holy thing; 11 but if a priest buys a slave as his property for money, the slave may eat of it; and those that are born in his house may eat of his food. 12 If a priest’s daughter is married to an outsider she shall not eat of the offering of the holy things. 13 But if a priest’s daughter is a widow or divorced, and has no child, and returns to her father’s house, as in her youth, she may eat of her father’s food; yet no outsider shall eat of it. 14 And if a man eats of a holy thing unwittingly, he shall add the fifth of its value to it, and give the holy thing to the priest. 15 The priests shall not profane the holy things of the people of Israel, which they offer to the LORD, 16 and so cause them to bear iniquity and guilt, by eating their holy things: for I am the LORD who sanctify them.” 17 And the LORD said to Moses, 18 “Say to Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel, When any one of the house of Israel or of the sojourners in Israel presents his offering, whether in payment of a vow or as a freewill offering which is offered to the LORD as a burnt offering, 19 to be accepted you shall offer a male without blemish, of the bulls or the sheep or the goats. 20 You shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable for you. 21 And when any one offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD, to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering, from the herd or from the flock, to be accepted it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it. 22 Animals blind or disabled or mutilated or having a discharge or an itch or scabs, you shall not offer to the LORD or make of them an offering by fire upon the altar to the LORD. 23 A bull or a lamb which has a part too long or too short you may present for a freewill offering; but for a votive offering it cannot be accepted. 24 Any animal which has its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut, you shall not offer to the LORD or sacrifice within your land; 25 neither shall you offer as the bread of your God any such animals gotten from a foreigner. Since there is a blemish in them, because of their mutilation, they will not be accepted for you.” 26 And the LORD said to Moses, 27 “When a bull or sheep or goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother; and from the eighth day on it shall be acceptable as an offering by fire to the LORD. 28 And whether the mother is a cow or a ewe, you shall not kill both her and her young in one day. 29 And when you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the LORD, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. 30 It shall be eaten on the same day, you shall leave none of it until morning: I am the LORD. 31 “So you shall keep my commandments and do them: I am the LORD. 32 And you shall not profane my holy name, but I will be hallowed among the people of Israel; I am the LORD who sanctify you, 33 who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the LORD.”
New Testament Read or today is Romans 8 :1-27
Romans 8
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, indeed it cannot; 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Any one who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit which dwells in you. 12 So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh– 13 for if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. 18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God; 20 for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; 23 and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. 26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. 27 And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
I Decided to include Romans 8 :1-27 in today’s reading from the Message bible. It helps me to understand it a little more.
1 With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud.
2 A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.
3 God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn’t deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that.
4 And now what the law code asked for but we couldn’t deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us.
5 Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them – living and breathing God!
6 Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life.
7 Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing.
8 And God isn’t pleased at being ignored.
9 But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won’t know what we’re talking about.
10 But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells – even though you still experience all the limitations of sin – you yourself experience life on God’s terms.
11 It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s!
12 So don’t you see that we don’t owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent.
13 There’s nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life.
14 God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!
15 This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?”
16 God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children.
17 And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us – an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him!
18 That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times.
19 The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next.
20 Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in
21 until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.
22 All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs.
23 These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance.
24 That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us.
25 But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.
26 Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans.
27 He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God.
The Message Bible – Eugene H. Peterson – In Contemporary Language Read today’s verses in this bible on line, if you like.
Listen to today’s Bible readings
The Catholic Daily Reading and homily, Listen, or Read it Here:
James 2:1-9
1My brethren, show no partiality as you hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.2For if a man with gold rings and in fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in,3and you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “Have a seat here, please,” while you say to the poor man, “Stand there,” or, “Sit at my feet,”4have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?5Listen, my beloved brethren. Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to those who love him?6But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you, is it not they who drag you into court?7Is it not they who blaspheme that honorable name which was invoked over you?8If you really fulfil the royal law, according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well.9But if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
Psalms 34:2-7
1I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.2My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and be glad.3O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!4I sought the LORD, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.5Look to him, and be radiant; so your faces shall never be ashamed.6This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
Gospel
Mark 8:27-33
27And Jesus went on with his disciples, to the villages of Caesare’a Philip’pi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do men say that I am?”28And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Eli’jah; and others one of the prophets.”29And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.”30And he charged them to tell no one about him.31And he began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.32And he said this plainly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.33But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter, and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but of men.”
Additional Study Materials
Previous Daily Bible Study Blogs
Book of Leviticus Summary, Outline Book of Romans Summary, Outline (we are studying these books presently)
Audio Drama: Old Testament New Testament Each book is read in its entirety. You can listen to the bible, one book at a time in contemporary English.
Dr. Myles Munroe
I am including a video by Dr. Myles Munroe, I’ve listened to him back in the nineties, and rediscovered him recently. Now his perspective seems to be a good way to also look at scripture. In Pursuit of Purpose – Book Highlights
Catholic Daily Reflections
Why would Peter take Jesus aside and rebuke Him? Was it a rebuke of anger at Jesus? No, it was most likely a rebuke based in the fear that Peter was experiencing in his heart. This passage says that Jesus “began to teach” the Apostles that He would soon suffer greatly, be rejected and killed. This would have been difficult for the Apostles to accept and understand. At first, they would have experienced all the emotions and thoughts that we all go through as we are processing some difficult news. We may start with denial, then become angry, look for a way out, panic, be confused, etc. Going through stages of grief and acceptance are normal and it appears that this is what Peter was experiencing. Out of his interior struggle in coming to an acceptance of what Jesus was starting to reveal to them, Peter tried to put up a block. In Matthew’s account of this story we hear the actual words of Peter, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you” (Mt. 16:22). Peter’s words were certainly words of concern for Jesus, but it’s important to note that, just because Peter was concerned about Jesus, this doesn’t mean that his words were helpful. As the story continues, Jesus rebukes Peter sternly, but it’s done out of love for Peter to help rid him of his fear and confusion. It’s understandable that Peter is fearful of the prediction of the Cross. It’s understandable when any one of us experiences fear in the face of some grave cross or hardship. The key here is to know that Jesus does not want us to sit in fear. He does not want us to run from the crosses we are given based on our human weakness. Instead, He wants us to turn to Him and try to think as He thinks, to act as He acts, and to face our hardships as He did by embracing His Cross. Reflect, today, upon your own reaction to the difficult things God calls you to do. Yes, you can be certain that He does daily call you to actions that require great sacrifice and great love. This can be experienced as painful. But you should never allow the pain of any cross to deter you from carrying it. Pray that you have courage to face your crosses and, if needed, be open to the loving rebuke of Jesus when you find that you need a rebuke to set you on the path to freedom from fear. Lord of strength, I know that You courageously and fearlessly faced the holy sacrifice of Your glorious Cross. As I am invited to follow in Your footsteps, I find that fear can overwhelm me as it did Peter. Please strengthen me in those times and give me the grace I need to say “Yes” to You no matter what You ask. Jesus, I trust in You.
Sermons Rosary Prayers Catholic Answers
Catholic Answers 2021-11-27 – Christ’s Death
Are some prayers more efficacious than others? Dr. Anders debates this and other topics, including in vitro fertilization, praying for the dead and the role of Christ’s saving death in the salvation of people today.
Catholic Answers A long list of questions for Dr. Anders includes the inspiration for the Bible, Catholic teaching on infant baptism, how sin compromises people, freemasonry, renewing baptismal promises and obeying one’s conscience.
Catholic answers 2021-11-15 – Honoring Mary. Learn why Catholics honor Mary, as Dr. Anders answers questions on Our Lady as “full of grace,” the Immaculate Conception and her sinless life. Plus, praying the rosary and the Real Presence of Christ in Communion.
Rosary Mysteries
The following 4 videos are the 4 Mysteries that we pray on certain days of the week. I like these videos, because I can pray it alone, with only the images, or go along with the sound. The images help me to focus on the particular mystery that I am contemplating as I say the Hail Mary on each bead.
Joyful Mysteries
Luminous Mysteries
Sorrowful Mysteries
Glorious Mysteries
Prayers of the Rosary
Links to “How to pray the rosary” Popular Catholic Prayers
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord;
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried,
He descended into hell; the third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
(this prayer is optional and may be said after all Glory Be to the Fathers…..)
O my Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell.
Lead all souls to heaven, especially those who are in most need of thy mercy.
Console the souls in Purgatory, particularly those most abandoned. Amen
Hail Mary,
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
The Hail, Holy Queen
Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life our sweetness and our hope.
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve;
To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.
Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us and after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!
That we maybe made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Closing Prayer
O God, whose only begotten Son, by His life, death, and resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal salvation.
Grant, we beseech Thee, that while meditating on these mysteries of the most holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
that we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
(The Fatima Prayer:)
Most Holy Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – I adore thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference’s whereby He is offended. And through the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of poor sinners.
Prayer to St. Michael
Saint Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do you, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander through the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.
Thurzo Gizella Bible Study 
Leave a comment