REFLECTIONS TODAY The Hebrew shabbath means to cease or to rest. The Sabbath day commemorated God’s day of rest after he finished the work of creation. It was a sign of the covenant between God and his people. “Remember the Sabbath day—keep it holy,” God commanded his people (Ex 20:8). And...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The start of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee is introduced by a somber note: the arrest of John the Baptist. Matthew will later tell the story in detail: Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee under the Roman Empire, had imprisoned John the Baptist who had publicly reproved him for...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The theme of Jubilee Year 2025 is Peregrinantes in Spem, “Pilgrims of Hope.” “Pilgrimage” evokes an extraordinary journey to a place considered special, one undertaken as a quest for a unique motive, and at times a journey to the unknown. It can also refer to one’s...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Lambs are permanent fixtures of our Christmas crèche. The shepherds had surely brought them when they went to Bethlehem and found the infant Jesus lying in the manger. In Israel, a year-old male lamb without blemish is prescribed for the Passover feast which celebrates...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The liturgical year presents to us the arch of the mystery of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. At the close of this year, it is fitting that we go back to the very beginning, not just of his earthly life, but to his divine existence as the Logos or the Word of God. The...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Luke loves to present his characters in pairs by way of complementarity and contrast. He contrasts Zechariah and Mary in their response to the message of the angel Gabriel. He pairs Simeon and Anna as both aged ang prophesying. During the presentation of the Child Jesus in the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY First Reading • 1 Sm 1:20-22, 24-28 [or Sir 3:2-6, 12-14] In those days Hannah conceived, and at the end of her term bore a son whom she called Samuel, since she had asked the Lord for him. The next time her husband Elkanah was going up with the rest of his household to...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Matthew interprets the flight to Egypt and the succeeding massacre of the infants of Bethlehem with two prophetic oracles. The first — “Out of Egypt I called my son” (Hos 11:1) — recalls Israel, God’s son, being called out of Egypt at the time of the exodus. Jesus,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Following the celebration of St. Stephen who shed his blood for the faith is the feast of St. John, apostle and evangelist. He is believed to be “the other disciple whom Jesus loved” (v 2) who outruns Peter to the tomb but lets him enter first. The evangelist alludes to the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY On Christmas Midnight, we celebrate the Savior’s birth as a human being, one like us. On Christmas Day, we celebrate the Word taking flesh (Greek sarx)—our humanity in its finiteness and mortality, so different from his former state. The Word Incarnate—Jesus Christ—became...
REFLECTIONS TODAY At the threshold of Christmas, we hear Zechariah’s canticle of praise at the Lord’s coming to visit his people. God finally makes good his promise to his people through the prophets by sending his Son Jesus, the Davidic Messiah. Jesus’ entry into the world is like a streak...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Every birth entails a mission. In ancient Rome, the predictive power of a person’s name was captured by the Latin proverb “Nomen est omen,” meaning, the name is a sign. Yehoshua, the Hebrew name of Jesus (and Joshua, the successor of Moses), means “Yahweh (God) is...
