REFLECTIONS TODAY Luke presents the birth of John the Baptist and of Jesus in parallel events as they develop in separate scenes. In the Visitation, he now brings the most important characters together in one setting. We have Mary meeting Elizabeth (and Zechariah); but more importantly, the main...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • Luke 1:26-38 The annunciation to Mary parallels that of the annunciation to Zechariah in the temple. Both form a diptych, that is, parallel panels which present two stories side by side in order to show similarities and contrasts. The basic steps in the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Today’s Gospel shows the unraveling of the mystery of Mary’s pregnancy and the lifting of the burden from Joseph’s heart. In a dream, the angel informs Joseph that Mary’s child has been conceived through the Holy Spirit. He will be the Messiah and he will save people from...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jn 1:6-8, 19-28 A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light. And this is the testimony of John. When the Jews from Jerusalem sent...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The liturgy for the first day of Simbang Gabi focuses on light. The light is not yet Jesus, the Light of the World. Rather, it is John the Baptist. It is true that “he was not the light, but came to testify to the light” (Jn 1:8). Jesus in the Gospel bears testimony to his...
REFLECTIONS TODAY John is a nazir (“consecrated to the Lord”) from birth; “he will drink neither wine nor strong drink” (Lk 1:15). In later life, John proffers the way of asceticism in the desert. His detractors, however, see this austere prophet as possessed by a demon. In contrast to...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The yoke employed in ancient Palestine consisted of a heavy wooden bar laid upon the shoulders of the draft animals (oxen or asses) and attached to the animals by thongs passed around and under their throats. A laborer would also lay a yoke across his shoulders to carry...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • Luke 1:26-38 The Annunciation proclaimed on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe reminds us of another “annunciation”: that of the glorious Virgin Mary to a humble Mexican peasant, Juan Diego. On December 9, 1531, Juan Diego saw a vision of a maiden at the Hill...
REFLECTIONS TODAY “Blasphemy” refers to the abusive or contemptuous language directed towards God. In the Jewish tradition, blasphemies include human arrogance, implied attacks on God’s salvific power (2 Kgs 19:4), his glory (Ez 35:13), or his people (2 Mc 15:24). It is a sin punishable by...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Mk 1:1-8 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way. A voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The life of the Israelites, like most of the people, was bound to the cycle of the seasons. Harvest time was the time to rejoice and to make pilgrimage to God in Jerusalem to thank him for his providence. The harvest often symbolizes God’s last judgment (Is 9:2-3; Hos...
REFLECTIONS TODAY On Dec. 8, 1854, with the apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus, Pope Pius IX officially pronounced the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception that states that even at the first moment of her existence, Mary was free of the condition of original sin, which is the inheritance of...
