REFLECTIONS TODAY Scriptures see the human being as an embodied spirit. When a man dies, his body decays, but something of him exists: his psyche (translated as “life” or “soul”). There is death which is the end of existence on earth; there is also the “second death” which is the end of...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • Luke 10:1-9 The Lord Jesus appointed seventy-two others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Being close to poor folks and those considered as sinners does not make Jesus shun the company of the more respectable in society. In the Gospel, he sits at table as guest of a Pharisee. To the Pharisees, ritual cleanliness is very important; a person must wash his hands...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Many people in the crowd are not content with the miracles (“signs”) done by Jesus. They do not undergo repentance (metanoia), as their hearts remain unchanged. A “sign” is an action or event whose presence indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Matthew 22:1-14 [or 22:1-10] Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and elders of the people in parables, saying, “The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Beelzebul or Beelzebub is a name derived from a Philistine god, formerly worshiped in Ekron, and later adopted in the Bible as a major demon (2 Kgs 1:2-3). The name Beelzebul is associated with the Canaanite god Baal. Luke simply uses the name as synonym for Satan. The...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The heart of the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples is the very first word: “Father!” This corresponds to the Aramaic word abba. In Luke, whenever Jesus speaks to God in direct speech, he addresses him as “Father!” which reveals his familial intimacy with God. In...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The key to the prayer lies in our relationship with God. God is not some distant stranger. The Israelites to whom God revealed himself considered him as wholly “Other”—the Creator and Savior, the Almighty who dwells in the high heavens. The people looked at God with awe and...
REFLECTIONS TODAY On Feb. 2, 2021, Pope Francis approved the changing of the liturgical feast of St. Martha (July 29) to include her sister and brother, Mary and Lazarus, on the Church’s universal calendar of feast days. In the household of Bethany, as we read in today’s Gospel, Jesus...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In the parable, the priest and the Levite are joined because they share high status in the community. Born into the priestly family, they are part of the world of the Temple. In a world with strict boundaries between clean and unclean, their association with the Temple commends...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Matthew 21:33-43 Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: “Hear another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey....
REFLECTIONS TODAY When they return from their mission, the seventy-two disciples can report to Jesus, “Mission accomplished.” They are happy to share that they were given hospitality in villages where they healed the sick with the power given them by Jesus. And probably to their great surprise,...
