Daily Bible Readings

November 1, 2011
1st READING

In his vision of heaven, John the Beloved sees a huge multitude of saints holding palm branches and worshipping the Lamb who was slain for their sins. We are told there were 144,000 of them. Some have thought this was an actual number. However, in the Book of Revelation, numbers have a symbolic, not literal, meaning. The number 12 relates to the 12 tribes of Israel and also the 12 Apostles. So, 144, being 12 x 12, means the totality of the people of God. On this special feast, we honor all the hidden saints who are now in heaven, glorified and worshipping the Lamb.

Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14
2 I. John, saw another angel come up from the East, holding the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were given power to damage the land and the sea, 3 “Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” 4 I heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal, one hundred and forty-four thousand marked from every tribe of the children of Israel: 9 After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. 10 They cried out in a loud voice: Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb.” 11 All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshipped God, 12 and exclaimed: “Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” 13 Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me, “Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?” 14 I said to him, “My lord, you are the one who knows.” He said to me, “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

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 One 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)

2nd READING

One of our greatest blessings as Christians is that we are now children of our Heavenly Father. As St. John points out, this is a wonderful and awesome privilege — one that we should meditate on often so that our hearts may be filled with gratitude and joy. This knowledge, if it enters deeply into our hearts, will give us a quiet and deep confidence that we are truly precious and loved by God.

1John 3:1-3
1 Beloved: See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure, as he is pure.

G O S P E L

The Beatitudes set forth the interior disposition and attitude that we should cultivate if we are to truly imitate Jesus. It may be helpful to just
take one of them for a week’s contemplation and seek each day to grow in that virtue. For instance, “blessed are the pure of heart,” then strive to keep your heart and mind pure this week and avoid all pornography and crude conversations.

ALLELUIA
R: Alleluia, alleluia
Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest, says the Lord.
R: Alleluia, alleluia

Matthew 5:1-12
1 When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 He began to teach them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. 6 Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.”

my reflections
think: Take one of the virtues in the Beatitudes and contemplate on it for a week. Seek each day to grow in that virtue.

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 John 13-16