REFLECTIONS TODAY “Where your treasure is, there also will your heart be” (v 21). How true is this saying of Jesus! A person or an object which captures our attention and heart is our “treasure”—great or small the object of our desire may be. Matthew presents Jesus’ concern for his...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Jews strive to observe the Law given by God to Moses, and they religiously pass this practice from one generation to the next. Jesus was brought up in this tradition and is observant of the Law, like praying to God, observing the Sabbath, and especially the Decalogue or Ten...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In the Jewish law, “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” (v 38) is an expression of justice. It ensures that the other end does not retaliate, does not get even, nor inflict more than the harm being done on a person. In the Gospel, Jesus is offering another model of...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Matthew 9:36—10:8 At the sight of the crowd, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest...
The Diocese of Dumaguete issued a decree on the proper gesture of hands during the singing or reciting of the Lord’s Prayer. Bishop Julito Cortes said the faithful may join their hands when the Lord’s Prayer is being sung or recited during Mass. Cortes issued the decree as he observed that many...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Gospel shows that Mary and Joseph are observant of their Jewish tradition, like going to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. The distance from Nazareth to Jerusalem is more than 120 kilometers. The Holy Family would travel with their relatives and friends in a caravan. Jesus...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Gospel presents Jesus’ intimate relationship with the heavenly Father whom he addresses as “Lord of heaven and earth” (v 25), and encourages the little ones (the disciples) to maintain the childlike attitude. He then invites his disciples to find rest in this knowledge...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Laws are guiding principles for any community. The “law” here refers to the teachings which God gave to his people at Mt. Sinai through Moses. The Jews have two classifications of the law: oral and written. The Gospel mentions that the scribes add many more things to the law...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Beatitudes are among the most popular teachings of Jesus. They open what we call Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. By this time, Jesus’ popularity has already been spreading. People come to him from diverse areas: Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jn 6:51-58 Jesus said to the Jewish crowds: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The gospel describes the contrasting dispositions of the scribes and the poor widow which do not escape Jesus’ notice. Because of their prestige in society, the scribes are offered the best seats in synagogues and places of honor at banquets. They also say long prayers. Yet,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Jews and the scribes who are learned in Scriptures have looked forward for the coming of the Messiah. The Christ or the Anointed One would come from the lineage of David, in line with the oracle of Nathan about the Lord raising an offspring after David, whose throne would be...
