REFLECTIONS TODAY The Gospel of Matthew is designed through the so-called five discourses: the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5–7), the Missionary Discourse (Mt 10) and the Parabolic Discourse (Mt 13), the Ecclesial Discourse (Mt 18) and the Eschatological Discourse (Mt 24–25). Today, we start...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In today’s Gospel, Jesus asks Peter of the latter’s opinion as to who must pay the tax: the sons (hoi huioi) or the foreigners (hoi allotrioi)? Peter responds that the foreigners must pay the tax. In Jesus’ time, every male Jew above 19 years old was obliged to give his...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • John 6:41-51 It is a human tendency to look for God in extraordinary events, unmindful that God can also be found in the ordinariness of our everyday life. If we are attentive enough, he reveals himself to us every day. In the Gospel of John, Jesus Christ is...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Today’s Gospel accentuates Jesus’ self-giving act. The Gospel depicts Jesus’ selfless sacrifice conveyed through the imagery of a grain of wheat (kokkos tou sitou) falling to the ground in order to produce more grains. Jesus is referring to himself and to the selfless...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Paradoxes are part of life. Paradoxes may also characterize our faith. We may feel God’s closeness even when facing serious problems. At times, it is in difficult situations that we can hear God’s message so clearly. Paradoxically, it is when we are confronted with our human...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus is aware of his mission intended to the house of Israel. However, today’s Gospel presents Jesus as going to the region of Tyre and Sidon where a Canaanite woman asks him for the healing of her daughter who is tormented by a demon. The reaction of Jesus’ disciples is to...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus and his disciples are about to go to Jerusalem where Jesus will suffer greatly, be killed, and will rise after three days. Jesus knows that his impending passion can easily blur the vision of his disciples with regard to his resurrection. Hence, Jesus allows them to have a...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Today’s Gospel narrates the feeding of the multitude. The disciples come to Jesus, suggesting that the crowds be dismissed so that they may look for their own provisions. Jesus tells the disciples not to send the people away. The disciples themselves must give people something...
REFLECTIONS TODAY First Reading • Ex 16:2-4, 12-15 The whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “Would that we had died at the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread! But you had to lead us...
REFLECTIONS TODAY There are times when, out of excitement, we could be wrong in what we say and do. It would be worse when, after realizing the wrongness of the word we are about to say or the action we are about to do, we would still say or do it. Today’s Gospel tells of the beheading of...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus goes to his hometown and teaches in the synagogue. Those who hear him are amazed but at the same time confused. They are unable to accept the fact that Jesus, whom they think they know very well, is performing miracles and demonstrating great wisdom. They are unable to put...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The parables of the Buried Treasure and that of the Pearl of Great Price give us a similar lesson: the Kingdom of heaven is a treasure beyond price; we must renounce all that may hinder us from possessing it. The Kingdom of heaven, as Jesus tells us, is the reign of God in...
