REFLECTIONS TODAY First Reading • Jos 5:9a, 10-12 [or 1 Sm 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a] The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have removed the reproach of Egypt from you.” While the Israelites were encamped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they celebrated the Passover on the evening of the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Gospel parable mirrors two kinds of prayer. The Pharisee prays, not to God, but to himself (he spoke the prayer to himself). The publican, on the other hand, beats his breast and can barely set his eyes on God, a sign of humiliation and sorrow. A proud person has little place...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • Mark 12:28-34 Jesus quotes the Shema (Dt 6:4) in responding to the scribe who, like many Jews, is anxious to know which of the 613 prescriptions in the Torah is the most important. The command to love God with one’s whole person and everything in one’s power,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Whenever God conveyed a message to the Israelites, such message began with the word “Hear” or “Listen” (Shema), as is the case in our First Reading. This means that the first responsibility of the Israelites was to listen and understand the Lord’s words or...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Mary is human like all of us. But unlike us, she was completely open to God’s will. God did not impose his will on her. She was asked, and she consented. She was free to say No to God, but she saw herself as a humble maidservant open to obey the Lord’s bidding. She must...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In today’s Gospel, the intention of Jesus’ detractors is made clear—to get rid of him by killing him. Our First Reading seems to fit Jesus’ situation to a tee. He is the righteous one (v 12) that his enemies want to test. They want to see if he will remain steadfast to his...
Last January, Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) issued a landmark Administrative Order establishing an institutional mechanism for Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) within the department. This initiative aims to systematize the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • [of John 4:5-42] Some people who were present told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. Jesus said to them in reply, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than...
REFLECTIONS TODAY When the prodigal son returns home, the father runs to meet him. Older men in the Middle East do not run except in emergency; running causes dishonor. But the father does this, not so much to joyfully welcome the son as to protect him from hostile villagers. By meeting the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Our readings today contain two stories on envy and greed. In the First Reading, the 11 brothers were envious of Joseph being their father’s favorite and so threw him in a cistern and then sold him to the Midianite traders. This caused their father Jacob so much...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In telling us to call God “Abba,” the commonly used Jewish word for “father” or “Dad,” Jesus designates us as God’s children. And as we are his children, Jesus is our brother. The risen Jesus tells Mary Magdalene, “I am going to my Father and your...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The parable of the Last Judgment or the Judgment of the Nations tells us how we shall be judged personally once we pass on from this life or in the universal judgment at the glorious coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The criterion of judgment is not how we have attended to...
