Word for today: What is impossible with men is possible with God. Luke 18:27
A Christian’s goal should be to create the Kingdom of God here on earth, as it is in Heaven. Not only, to get to Heaven.
To finish the Bible in one year, Read Psalms 11-15 and 2nd Corinthians 3
Old Testament Reading for today – Listen or read it for yourself:
Reflection for Today.
Also read the verses, if you like.
psalm 11
1 [For the choirmaster Of David] In Yahweh I have found refuge. How can you say to me, ‘Bird, flee to your mountain?
2 ‘For look, the wicked are drawing their bows, fitting their arrows to the string to shoot honest men from the shadows.
3 If the foundations fall to ruin, what can the upright do?’
4 Yahweh in his holy temple! Yahweh, his throne is in heaven; his eyes watch over the world, his gaze scrutinises the children of Adam.
5 Yahweh examines the upright and the wicked, the lover of violence he detests.
6 He will rain down red-hot coals, fire and sulphur on the wicked, a scorching wind will be their lot.
7 For Yahweh is upright and loves uprightness, the honest will ever see his face.
psalm 12
1 [For the choirmaster On the octachord Psalm Of David] Help, Yahweh! No one loyal is left, the faithful have vanished from among the children of Adam.
2 Friend tells lies to friend, and, smooth-tongued, speaks from an insincere heart.
3 May Yahweh cut away every smooth lip, every boastful tongue,
4 those who say, ‘In our tongue lies our strength, our lips are our allies; who can master us?’
5 ‘For the poor who are plundered, the needy who groan, now will I act,’ says Yahweh, ‘I will grant salvation to those who sigh for it.’
6 Yahweh’s promises are promises unalloyed, natural silver which comes from the earth seven times refined.
7 You, Yahweh, will watch over them, you will protect them from that brood for ever.
8 The wicked will scatter in every direction, as the height of depravity among the children of Adam.
Psalm 13
1 [For the choirmaster Psalm Of David] How long, Yahweh, will you forget me? For ever? How long will you turn away your face from me?
2 How long must I nurse rebellion in my soul, sorrow in my heart day and night? How long is the enemy to domineer over me?
3 Look down, answer me, Yahweh my God! Give light to my eyes or I shall fall into the sleep of death.
4 Or my foe will boast, ‘I have overpowered him,’ and my enemy have the joy of seeing me stumble.
5 As for me, I trust in your faithful love, Yahweh. Let my heart delight in your saving help, let me sing to Yahweh for his generosity to me, let me sing to the name of Yahweh the Most High!
6 But I trust in your mercy, Grant my heart joy in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has dealt bountifully with me!
Psalm 14
1 [For the choirmaster Of David] The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ Their deeds are corrupt and vile, not one of them does right.
2 Yahweh looks down from heaven at the children of Adam. To see if a single one is wise, a single one seeks God.
3 All have turned away, all alike turned sour, not one of them does right, not a single one.
4 Are they not aware, all these evil-doers? They are devouring my people, this is the bread they eat, and they never call to Yahweh.
5 They will be gripped with fear, where there is no need for fear, for God takes the side of the upright;
6 you may mock the plans of the poor, but Yahweh is their refuge.
7 Who will bring from Zion salvation for Israel? When Yahweh brings his people home, what joy for Jacob, what happiness for Israel!
psalm 15
1 [Psalm Of David] Yahweh, who can find a home in your tent, who can dwell on your holy mountain?
2 Whoever lives blamelessly, who acts uprightly, who speaks the truth from the heart,
3 who keeps the tongue under control, who does not wrong a comrade, who casts no discredit on a neighbour,
4 who looks with scorn on the vile, but honours those who fear Yahweh, who stands by an oath at any cost,
5 who asks no interest on loans, who takes no bribe to harm the innocent. No one who so acts can ever be shaken.
2nd Corinthians 3
1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves to you afresh — as though we needed, like some others, to have letters of commendation either to you or from you?
2 You yourselves are our letter, written in our hearts, that everyone can read and understand;
3 and it is plain that you are a letter from Christ, entrusted to our care, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God; not on stone tablets but on the tablets of human hearts.
4 Such is the confidence we have through Christ in facing God;
5 it is not that we are so competent that we can claim any credit for ourselves; all our competence comes from God.
6 He has given us the competence to be ministers of a new covenant, a covenant which is not of written letters, but of the Spirit; for the written letters kill, but the Spirit gives life.
7 Now if the administering of death, engraved in letters on stone, occurred in such glory that the Israelites could not look Moses steadily in the face, because of its glory, transitory though this glory was,
8 how much more will the ministry of the Spirit occur in glory!
9 For if it is glorious to administer condemnation, to administer saving justice is far richer in glory.
10 Indeed, what was once considered glorious has lost all claim to glory, by contrast with the glory which transcends it.
11 For if what was transitory had any glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts for ever.
12 With a hope like this, we can speak with complete fearlessness;
13 not like Moses who put a veil over his face so that the Israelites should not watch the end of what was transitory.
14 But their minds were closed; indeed, until this very day, the same veil remains over the reading of the Old Testament: it is not lifted, for only in Christ is it done away with.
15 As it is, to this day, whenever Moses is read, their hearts are covered with a veil,
16 and this veil will not be taken away till they turn to the Lord.
17 Now this Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
18 And all of us, with our unveiled faces like mirrors reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the image that we reflect in brighter and brighter glory; this is the working of the Lord who is the Spirit.
Sermons and explanations for the above chapters.
Daily Readings for Catholics:
Catholic Daily Reflections
Reading 1, Isaiah 66:10-14
10 Rejoice with Jerusalem, be glad for her, all you who love her! Rejoice, rejoice with her, all you who mourned her!
11 So that you may be suckled and satisfied from her consoling breast, so that you may drink deep with delight from her generous nipple.
12 For Yahweh says this: Look, I am going to send peace flowing over her like a river, and like a stream in spate the glory of the nations. You will be suckled, carried on her hip and fondled in her lap.
13 As a mother comforts a child, so I shall comfort you; you will be comforted in Jerusalem.
14 At the sight your heart will rejoice, and your limbs regain vigour like the grass. To his servants Yahweh will reveal his hand, but to his enemies his fury.
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20
1 [For the choirmaster Song Psalm] Acclaim God, all the earth,
2 sing psalms to the glory of his name, glorify him with your praises,
3 say to God, ‘How awesome you are! ‘Your achievements are the measure of your power, your enemies woo your favour,
4 all the earth bows down before you, sings psalms to you, sings psalms to your name.
5 Come and see the marvels of God, his awesome deeds for the children of Adam:
6 he changed the sea into dry land, they crossed the river on foot. So let us rejoice in him,
7 who rules for ever by his power; his eyes keep watch on the nations to forestall rebellion against him.
16 Come and listen, all who fear God, while I tell what he has done for me.
20 Blessed be God who has not turned away my prayer, nor his own faithful love from me.
Previous Daily Bible Study Blogs
Book of Psalms, Outline Summary, Outline Book of 2 Corinthians (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
Sermons Rosary Prayers Catholic Answers
Did Mary have other children? No, Listen here
Called to Communion
Pray the Rosary
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 
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