REFLECTIONS TODAY Sheep are totally dependent on shepherds for protection, grazing, watering, shelter, and tending to injuries. They are considered dumb, 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...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Galilee, the region of northern Palestine, came under the Assyrians in 722 BC. Many of the inhabitants were exiled to Nineveh, and pagan foreigners were brought in to settle in the land. The region experienced more foreign influence than Judea, and its inhabitants intermarried...
MATTHEW 2:1-12 1 When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was greatly...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Prologue of John’s Gospel says, “A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light” (1:6-7). John, the son of Zechariah, is so associated with his baptizing ministry in the Jordan River that he is known as the Baptist. But in the Fourth...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In contrast to the other evangelists who situate the story of Jesus in history, John starts from “the beginning,” in the sphere of God, when only God was there. But the Word was with God in the beginning, and creation was done through the Word. The evangelist then leaves the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY I had the chance to meet my two grandmothers from my father’s side and my mother’s. While I did not live with them, I somehow came to know them during those special occasions of being with them. What struck me in both of them was their sense of wisdom, of having learned so...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The presentation of Jesus in the Temple shows the obedience and fidelity of his parents Joseph and Mary to the Torah that requires the purification of a mother within 40 days after childbirth and the presentation or redemption of the firstborn son. Their obedience to the Law...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Feast of the Holy Innocents makes us aware of the continuing dangers that infants and children are facing in today’s world. While they are the most harmless of creatures, babies and small children are the object of crime and violence. The Son of God becomes a human being...
REFLECTIONS TODAY LUKE 2:22-40 When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord... Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus is very clear with his disciples that following him will not be easy; on the contrary, they will meet opposition and persecution. This is what he, the Master, will experience. Yet, he promises them every help, especially that of the Holy Spirit who will be their...
REFLECTIONS TODAY LUKE 2:1-14 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town. And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Like its parallel, the Magnificat, Zechariah’s prayer of blessing (Benedictus) proclaims what God the Lord has done for his people, Israel. It is a summary of God’s saving interventions towards Israel, culminating in the giving of a “mighty Savior, born of the house of his...
