Daily Bible Readings

October 22, 2011
1st READING


St. Paul often speaks of the flesh. What does he mean by this term? Is he speaking about our human bodies? No. He is referring to the reality of our condition as sinful human beings who have been damaged by sin. Sin, as it impacts our humanity, brings with it a disorder and rebellion against the law of God. That is why we often find it easier to do what is wrong than what is right. Only God’s grace acting deep within us can heal and overcome the effects of sin within us. The more we surrender to the action of the Holy Spirit, the more we will be transformed within.


Romans 8:1-11

1 Brothers and sisters: Now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed you from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law, weakened by the flesh, was powerless to do, this God has done: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for the sake of sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the righteous decree of the law might be fulfilled in us, who live not according to the flesh but according to the spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh are concerned with the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit with the things of the spirit. 6 The concern of the flesh is death, but the concern of the spirit is life and peace. 7 For the concern of the flesh is hostility toward God; it does not submit to the law of God, nor can it; 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit that dwells in you.

P S A L M


Psalms 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6

R: Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.

1 The LORD’s are the earth and its fullness; the world and those who dwell in it. 2 For he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. (R) 3 Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD? Or who may stand in his holy place? 4 He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain. (R) 5 He shall receive a blessing from the LORD, a reward from God his savior. 6 Such is the race that seeks for him, that seeks the face of the God of Jacob. (R)

G O S P E L


People often associate tragedies and disaster with God’s judgment. Yet, as Jesus shows here, the people that experienced these disasters were no more evil than the others. Disasters, while not directly caused by God, can be used by Him to make us aware of the shortness of our lives and reflect to us how we are living in the light of eternity.

ALLELUIA
R: Alleluia, alleluia

I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, says the Lord, but rather in his conversion that he may live.
R: Alleluia, alleluia

Luke 13:1-9

1 Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. 2 He said to them in reply, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? 3 By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! 4 Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them — do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? 5 By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!” 6 And he told them this parable: “There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, 7 he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’ 8 He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; 9 it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’ ”

my reflections

t h i n k : Only God’s grace acting deep within us can heal and overcome the effects of sin within us.

God’s special verse/thought for me today________________

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T O D A Y ’ S BLESSING LIST

Thank You Lord for: ____________________________________

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READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Zephania 1-3