REFLECTIONS TODAY The “immaculate conception,” whi ch makes Mary, the young woman of Nazareth, “highly favored” (kecharitomenē) by God, does not dispense her from natural human reaction before the divine revelation. She is greatly troubled at what was said by the angel, like Gideon when...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • John 20:19-31 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus’ resurrection was something new to the disciples, or to anyone else. It is not coming back to life as in the case of Lazarus, Jairus’ daughter, or the son of the widow of Nain. When Jesus first intimated that he would rise from the dead, the disciples were...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In John, the last appearance of the risen Christ to the disciples happens in Galilee, where they were first called. After their failure in discipleship during Jesus’ passion, they return home to Galilee, probably to mend a little their broken hearts. But their return does not...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Those who deny the reality of resurrection of the body claim that Jesus rose from the dead in a spiritual sense and that he showed himself to the Apostles only in a vision. They say that the memory of Jesus is so alive among his disciples that they would think of Jesus as...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Bible or the Scriptures is God’s “love letter” to humanity. It contains God’s communication to human beings in the ups and downs of salvation history. God’s revelation was first directed to the people of Israel who kept God’s word given to them by Moses and the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY John dramatizes the encounter between the risen Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Even though Jesus stands plainly in sight, Mary does not recognize him. He asks her, “Whom are you looking for?” (v 15) — a question that probes discipleship (Jn 1:38- 39, where the early disciples...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Money is very much involved in the plan to destroy Jesus. The chief priests paid Judas Iscariot 30 pieces of silver to hand Jesus over to them (Mt 26:15). They thought they have succeeded in getting rid of Jesus by having the Romans crucify him. But God frustrates their evil plan....
REFLECTIONS TODAY Light and darkness are used as symbols and metaphors in Scriptures. Light is the manifestation of God’s nature. It is also the essence of all the gifts through which God blesses his creatures. Darkness, on the other hand, is the rejection of God. It manifests as...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • John 18:1—19:42 Jesus called his mother “woman” in Cana, at the first miracle that he performed, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come” (Jn 2:4). The next time he called her woman was the time he hung on the cross: “Woman,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY On the night before he suffered, Jesus, the Master and Lord, rises from his place at the head of the table and begins to wash his disciples’ feet. Peter and the others are shocked. They cannot understand why the Master lowers himself to take on the slave’s role. Jesus is...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Matthew reports that Judas received 30 pieces of silver for having betrayed Jesus. A quick look at Google would tell us the modern equivalent of “30 pieces of silver”: about five weeks money (based on a six-day working week). The meaning is more profound than the actual value:...
