The Word for today: Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10 NIV
To finish the Bible in one year, Read Psalms 80 to 84 and John 1 : 19-51.
Old Testament Reading for today – Listen or read it for yourself:
Reflection for Today.
Also read the verses, if you like.
Psalm 80
1 [For the choirmaster Tune: ‘The decrees are lilies’ Of Asaph Psalm] Shepherd of Israel, listen, you who lead Joseph like a flock, enthroned on the winged creatures, shine forth
2 over Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh; rouse your valour and come to our help.
3 God, bring us back, let your face shine on us and we shall be safe.
4 Yahweh, God Sabaoth, how long will you flare up at your people’s prayer?
5 You have made tears their food, redoubled tears their drink.
6 You let our neighbours quarrel over us, our enemies mock us.
7 God Sabaoth, bring us back, let your face shine on us and we shall be safe.
8 You brought a vine out of Egypt, to plant it you drove out nations;
9 you cleared a space for it, it took root and filled the whole country.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade, and the cedars of God with its branches,
11 its boughs stretched as far as the sea, its shoots as far as the River.
12 Why have you broken down its fences? Every passer-by plucks its grapes,
13 boars from the forest tear at it, wild beasts feed on it.
14 God Sabaoth, come back, we pray, look down from heaven and see, visit this vine;
15 protect what your own hand has planted.
16 They have thrown it on the fire like dung, the frown of your rebuke will destroy them.
17 May your hand protect those at your side, the child of Adam you have strengthened for yourself!
18 Never again will we turn away from you, give us life and we will call upon your name.
19 God Sabaoth, bring us back, let your face shine on us and we shall be safe.
Psalm 81
1 [For the choirmaster On the . . . of Gath Of Asaph] Sing for joy to God our strength, shout in triumph to the God of Jacob.
2 Strike up the music, beat the tambourine, play the melodious harp and the lyre;
3 blow the trumpet for the new month, for the full moon, for our feast day!
4 For Israel has this statute, a decision of the God of Jacob,
5 a decree he imposed on Joseph, when he went to war against Egypt. I heard a voice unknown to me,
6 ‘I freed his shoulder from the burden, his hands were able to lay aside the labourer’s basket.
7 You cried out in your distress, so I rescued you. ‘Hidden in the storm, I answered you, I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
8 Listen, my people, while I give you warning; Israel, if only you would listen to me!
9 ‘You shall have no strange gods, shall worship no alien god.
10 I, Yahweh, am your God, who brought you here from Egypt, you have only to open your mouth for me to fill it.
11 ‘My people would not listen to me, Israel would have none of me.
12 So I left them to their stubborn selves, to follow their own devices.
13 ‘If only my people would listen to me, if only Israel would walk in my ways,
14 at one stroke I would subdue their enemies, turn my hand against their opponents.
15 ‘Those who hate Yahweh would woo his favour, though their doom was sealed for ever,
16 while I would feed him on pure wheat, would give you your fill of honey from the rock.’
Psalm 82
1 [Psalm Of Asaph] God takes his stand in the divine assembly, surrounded by the gods he gives judgement.
2 ‘How much longer will you give unjust judgements and uphold the prestige of the wicked?
3 Let the weak and the orphan have justice, be fair to the wretched and the destitute.
4 ‘Rescue the weak and the needy, save them from the clutches of the wicked.
5 ‘Ignorant and uncomprehending, they wander in darkness, while the foundations of the world are tottering.
6 I had thought, “Are you gods, are all of you sons of the Most High?”
7 No! you will die as human beings do, as one man, princes, you will fall.’
8 Arise, God, judge the world, for all nations belong to you
Psalm 83
1 [Song Psalm Of Asaph] God, do not remain silent, do not stay quiet or unmoved, God!
2 See how your enemies are in uproar, how those who hate you are rearing their heads.
3 They are laying plans against your people, conspiring against those you cherish;
4 they say, ‘Come, let us annihilate them as a nation, the name of Israel shall be remembered no more!’
5 They conspire with a single mind, they conclude an alliance against you,
6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites,
7 Gebal, Ammon, Amalek, Philistia and the Tyrians;
8 even Assyria has joined them to reinforce the children of Lot.
9 Treat them like Midian and Sisera, like Jabin at the river Kishon;
10 wiped out at En-Dor, they served to manure the ground.
11 Treat their leaders like Oreb and Zeeb, all their commanders like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 for they said, ‘Let us take for ourselves God’s settlements.’
13 My God, treat them like thistledown, like chaff at the mercy of the wind.
14 As fire devours a forest, as a flame sets mountains ablaze,
15 so drive them away with your tempest, by your whirlwind fill them with terror.
16 Shame written all over their faces, let them seek your name, Yahweh!
17 Dishonour and terror be always theirs, death also and destruction.
18 Let them know that you alone bear the name of Yahweh, Most High over all the earth.
Psalm 84
1 [For the choirmaster On the . . . of Gath Of the sons of Korah Psalm] How lovely are your dwelling-places, Yahweh Sabaoth.
2 My whole being yearns and pines for Yahweh’s courts, My heart and my body cry out for joy to the living God.
3 Even the sparrow has found a home, the swallow a nest to place its young: your altars, Yahweh Sabaoth, my King and my God.
4 How blessed are those who live in your house; they shall praise you continually.
5 Blessed those who find their strength in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of the Balsam, they make there a water-hole, and — a further blessing — early rain fills it.
7 They make their way from height to height, God shows himself to them in Zion.
8 Yahweh, God Sabaoth, hear my prayer, listen, God of Jacob.
9 God, our shield, look, and see the face of your anointed.
10 Better one day in your courts than a thousand at my own devices, to stand on the threshold of God’s house than to live in the tents of the wicked.
11 For Yahweh God is a rampart and shield, he gives grace and glory; Yahweh refuses nothing good to those whose life is blameless.
12 Yahweh Sabaoth, blessed is he who trusts in you.
John 1 : 19-51
19 This was the witness of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’
20 He declared, he did not deny but declared, ‘I am not the Christ.’
21 So they asked, ‘Then are you Elijah?’ He replied, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the Prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.’
22 So they said to him, ‘Who are you? We must take back an answer to those who sent us. What have you to say about yourself?’
23 So he said, ‘I am, as Isaiah prophesied: A voice of one that cries in the desert: Prepare a way for the Lord. Make his paths straight!’
24 Now those who had been sent were Pharisees,
25 and they put this question to him, ‘Why are you baptising if you are not the Christ, and not Elijah, and not the Prophet?’
26 John answered them, ‘I baptise with water; but standing among you — unknown to you-
27 is the one who is coming after me; and I am not fit to undo the strap of his sandal.’
28 This happened at Bethany, on the far side of the Jordan, where John was baptising.
29 The next day, he saw Jesus coming towards him and said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.
30 It was of him that I said, “Behind me comes one who has passed ahead of me because he existed before me.”
31 I did not know him myself, and yet my purpose in coming to baptise with water was so that he might be revealed to Israel.’
32 And John declared, ‘I saw the Spirit come down on him like a dove from heaven and rest on him.
33 I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptise with water had said to me, “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is to baptise with the Holy Spirit.”
34 I have seen and I testify that he is the Chosen One of God.’
35 The next day as John stood there again with two of his disciples, Jesus went past,
36 and John looked towards him and said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God.’
37 And the two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus.
38 Jesus turned round, saw them following and said, ‘What do you want?’ They answered, ‘Rabbi’ — which means Teacher — ‘where do you live?’
39 He replied, ‘Come and see’; so they went and saw where he lived, and stayed with him that day. It was about the tenth hour.
40 One of these two who became followers of Jesus after hearing what John had said was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter.
41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother and say to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ — which means the Christ-
42 and he took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John; you are to be called Cephas’ — which means Rock.
43 The next day, after Jesus had decided to leave for Galilee, he met Philip and said, ‘Follow me.’
44 Philip came from the same town, Bethsaida, as Andrew and Peter.
45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.’
46 Nathanael said to him, ‘From Nazareth? Can anything good come from that place?’ Philip replied, ‘Come and see.’
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael coming he said of him, ‘There, truly, is an Israelite in whom there is no deception.’
48 Nathanael asked, ‘How do you know me?’ Jesus replied, ‘Before Philip came to call you, I saw you under the fig tree.’
49 Nathanael answered, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the king of Israel.’
50 Jesus replied, ‘You believe that just because I said: I saw you under the fig tree. You are going to see greater things than that.’
51 And then he added, ‘In all truth I tell you, you will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending over the Son of man.’
Catholic Daily Readings and Reflections
Reading 1, Genesis 18:1-10
1 Yahweh appeared to him at the Oak of Mamre while he was sitting by the entrance of the tent during the hottest part of the day.
2 He looked up, and there he saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them he ran from the entrance of the tent to greet them, and bowed to the ground.
3 ‘My lord,’ he said, ‘if I find favour with you, please do not pass your servant by.
4 Let me have a little water brought, and you can wash your feet and have a rest under the tree.
5 Let me fetch a little bread and you can refresh yourselves before going further, now that you have come in your servant’s direction.’ They replied, ‘Do as you say.’
6 Abraham hurried to the tent and said to Sarah, ‘Quick, knead three measures of best flour and make loaves.’
7 Then, running to the herd, Abraham took a fine and tender calf and gave it to the servant, who hurried to prepare it.
8 Then taking curds, milk and the calf which had been prepared, he laid all before them, and they ate while he remained standing near them under the tree.
9 ‘Where is your wife Sarah?’ they asked him. ‘She is in the tent,’ he replied.
10 Then his guest said, ‘I shall come back to you next year, and then your wife Sarah will have a son.’ Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him.
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 15:2-3, 3-4, 5
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.
Gospel, Luke 10:38-42
38 In the course of their journey he came to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.
39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet and listened to him speaking.
40 Now Martha, who was distracted with all the serving, came to him and said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.’
41 But the Lord answered, ‘Martha, Martha,’ he said, ‘you worry and fret about so many things,
42 and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part, and it is not to be taken from her.’
Reading 2, Colossians 1:24-28
24 It makes me happy to be suffering for you now, and in my own body to make up all the hardships that still have to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church,
25 of which I was made a servant with the responsibility towards you that God gave to me, that of completing God’s message,
26 the message which was a mystery hidden for generations and centuries and has now been revealed to his holy people.
27 It was God’s purpose to reveal to them how rich is the glory of this mystery among the gentiles; it is Christ among you, your hope of glory:
28 this is the Christ we are proclaiming, admonishing and instructing everyone in all wisdom, to make everyone perfect in Christ.
Previous Daily Bible Study Blogs
Book of Psalms, Outline Summary, Outline Book of John (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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