REFLECTIONS TODAY Though, strictly speaking, the mustard seed may not be the smallest, it is, proverbially speaking. Jesus contrasts here between the “smallest of all” (seed) and the “largest of plants” (shrub) (v 32). The shrub even becomes a tree that shelters birds in its branches. This...
REFLECTIONS TODAY First Reading • 1 Kgs 3:5, 7-12 The Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. God said, “Ask something of me and I will give it to you.” Solomon answered: “O Lord, my God, you have made me, your servant, king to succeed my father David; but I am a mere youth, not...
REFLECTIONS TODAY “Adulting” has become a buzzword among those transitioning from college life to work and family life. The word speaks of the shock of young people upon realizing how much effort is needed to be able to survive “real life.” The brain cannot simply process the many tasks to...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Gospel reading that presents the longing of prophets and righteous people in the Old Testament fits the celebration of Sts. Joachim and Anne, the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In giving birth to Mary, they announced the dawn of salvation which would come to fulfillment...
REFLECTIONS TODAY As it is perfectly understandable for a mother to wish the best for her children, we can easily forgive the mother of James and John for her audacity to ask Jesus for the seat of honor for them in his Kingdom. Jesus does not deny her request but asks the two brothers if they are...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Both the First Reading and the Gospel point to people voicing their doubt about God’s providence and protection. Pursued by the Egyptians, the Israelites blamed Moses for leading them out of Egypt in the first place, forgetting that it was the Lord who was leading them by his...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Matthew 13:24-43 [or 13:24-30] Our Gospel this Sunday is the inspiration behind Fr. Thomas Green’s book on prayer life, Weeds among the Wheat. A person is likened to the field where the farmer — the Lord God — sows wheat seeds. The enemy, however, surreptitiously sows weeds...
REFLECTIONS TODAY It is said that we can never learn anything that we presume to know already. When we are so full of ourselves, we can never learn the way of wisdom and life that Jesus offers us. For this reason, God’s wisdom is hidden from the wise and the learned and given instead to the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY I had the chance to set foot in Chorazin during a visit to the Holy Land. There is a synagogue for the villagers’ worship, and there are some houses, but nothing of consequence has remained in this place. In Jesus’ time, the fishing towns of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus’ statement that he has come to bring not peace but the sword is disconcerting, to say the least. After all, the angels sang of “peace on earth” (Lk 2:14) at his birth. But true peace is not the absence of conflict. Jesus becomes a sign that is contradicted because his...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Matthew 13:1-9 [or 13:1-23] Sowing the Word is an enterprise that God himself undertakes. But we have to provide the good soil for the seed to grow to maturity and bear fruit aplenty. How does this work in our life as Catholics? Besides reading the Bible, the Catholic is exposed...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Many non-Catholics object to Catholics calling the priest “Father” in line with what Jesus says in the Gospel, that no disciple is greater than his teacher. Elsewhere, Jesus declares, “Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven (Mt 23:9). But St....
