REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • Mark 16:15-18 The Church celebrates the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul on Jan. 25, the only one of a kind in the liturgy. There are other “turnabouts” that have left an indelible mark in the history of Christianity — e.g., Emperor Constantine’s...
REFLECTIONS TODAY After ministering to a vast crowd, Jesus goes up the mountain to commune with the heavenly Father. After praying, he summons those he wants to be with him, and selects twelve to be his intimate companions. Later on, these will be known as a distinct group — the Twelve (Greek:...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Obviously, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. But for the Pharisees, doing good refers to observing the practices of the Sabbath like resting from work and attending to the synagogue services. It excludes what Jesus does—healing a man with a withered hand—which is a...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The only fast prescribed in the Torah of Moses was that of the Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement (Lv 16:31). Regular fasting became common in later Judaism when pious Jews fasted twice a week out of devotion. Some occasionally fasted out of grief. However, some fasted for a...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • Matthew 18:1-5, 10 Bible scholars note that Matthew had gathered Jesus’ teachings in five discourses or “books,” probably after the “five books” of Moses or the Pentateuch. The fourth book is often called the “Church Order” discourse, but rather than...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • Mark 1:29-39 The Jews and other Mediterranean people in Jesus’ time were patrilocal. As norm, the woman would stay in her husband’s house, or in the house of her married son, not with the family of her married daughter who now belonged to her...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The first thing that Jesus does when he starts his mission of proclaiming the reign of God is to call two sets of brothers: Simon and Andrew who are casting their nets into the sea, and James and John who are mending their nets after fishing. These are fishermen plying their boats...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • Luke 3:15-16, 21-22 In Israel, the portal by which a male child joins the covenanted people of God is through the rite of circumcision, done on the eighth day after birth. When it is done on the “first day” of the week, the child becomes a “new creation.”...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Today marks the close of the Christmas season. Fittingly enough, we hear of the final witness of John the Baptist. John’s Prologue says of him, “He came for testimony, to testify to the light… He was not the light, but came to testify to the light” (1:7-8). John...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Synoptic Gospels tell of Jesus preaching in the synagogue of his native Nazareth where people first speak highly of him but later reject him for hurting their pride as God’s chosen by mentioning that the prophets ministered to the pagans ahead of Israel. John, in turn,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Sheep are totally dependent on shepherds for protection, grazing, watering, shelter, and tending to injuries. They are prone to wandering and unable to find their way back to a sheepfold even when it is within sight. The helplessness of the sheep requires a good shepherd who...
The voice of John the Baptist resounding in the desert and by the River Jordan during the Advent season returns on the days following the octave of Christmas. This time, the voice serves as introduction to the entry of Jesus as he reveals himself to Israel. The baptizer now becomes a...
