REFLECTIONS TODAY We hear a beautiful lesson on kinship from the mouth of Jesus. This is not to disdain the value of blood relationship. It is Jesus’ way, rather, to redefine what binds us together in the great family of God: hearing the Word of God and acting on it. Sometimes we are...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The light of God’s word is a precious treasure which we need to share generously with others. Its influence in our lives must be made manifest through words of kindness, acts of care and concern for others. The more we listen to God’s word and apply it to our life situations,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Reading through the context of Jesus’ saying, we can hear a note of near desperation as he shakes the stance of the scribes and Pharisees, his principal critics (Lk 7:29-30). They act like ambivalent, immature children in their attitude towards John the Baptist and Jesus. ...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • Luke 7:11-17 A biblical scholar once confessed how he searched the Gospels in trying hard to find a funeral sermon by Jesus. In the end, he gave up, saying he found none because at every instance, Jesus tried to “raise up the dead”! And so also in this Gospel...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus manifests his surprise as the centurion, presumably a nonbeliever and a representative of the occupying forces in the land of Israel, confesses his faith in Jesus’ authority. Call it “faith in unlikely places,” but it is there present; Jesus acknowledges it and...
REFLECTIONS TODAY First Reading • Is 50:5-9a The Lord God opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled, have not turned back. I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting. The Lord...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Today the Church commemorates the discovery of the cross of Christ in Jerusalem by Queen Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, in AD 320. The Gospel rightly brings to fore the meaning of Christ’s death on the cross. While we may look at it as the defeat of God’s Son,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The integrity of a person is seen in his or her degree of self-awareness and in the recognition of one’s deficiencies and limitations. The consistent and sincere living out of this virtue sooner or later helps the person to serve as a guide and teacher to others as well. But...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Luke’s version of the Beatitudes is penetrating. In this account, Jesus addresses his disciples in “direct speech”: “Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours” (v 20). He also makes the conditions “instantaneous”: “Blessed are you who are now...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The mission of Jesus must go on even after he will be physically gone from the earth. At this point of the Gospel narrative, Jesus perceives the mounting pressure his detractors put on his way and that he will soon be gone. He brings this foreboding before his Father and spends...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus’ courage and integrity in the face of opposition leads to the cure of the man with the withered hand. As Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus consistently chooses to “save life,” giving the Sabbath law the completion of its purpose. He looks for those who are in the margins,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • Mark 7:31-37 Among the different senses, the sense of hearing is oftentimes taken for granted. We do not consider it as important as the sense of sight or taste. But come to think of it, without hearing, even our speech can be affected. Unable to hear and speak, we...
