REFLECTIONS TODAY The last word of the risen Jesus to the Eleven (Apostles) is to go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. This was carried not just by the Apostles but also by the other “witnesses of the word” (Lk 1:2), foremost of whom was Saul from Tarsus whose...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Word of God bears or fails to bear fruit depending on the type of “soil” that receives it. The soil represents the disposition of people who hear the Word. There are the superficial people who are attentive to fads and fancies of life, and are swept away by mundane...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The scribes are so biased against Jesus that they attribute his power to drive out demons to his being in league with Beelzebul, the prince of demons. Jesus’ own family does not look kindly on some of his actuations, thinking that he is out of his mind. The “they” who say...
REFLECTIONS TODAY “If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand” (v 25). This saying of Jesus is true in all human affairs and undertakings—social, political, economic, even religious. This is also true in the realm of the devil, and so to think of Jesus driving...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The late Bible scholar Fr. John Meier entitled his books on the “historical Jesus” A Marginal Jew. Jesus does not act and teach in the mold of a Jewish rabbi. He is a celibate, teaches with an authority equal to or greater than Moses’, and loves the company of people...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The late Bible scholar Fr. John Meier entitled his books on the “historical Jesus” A Marginal Jew. Jesus does not act and teach in the mold of a Jewish rabbi. He is a celibate, teaches with an authority equal to or greater than Moses’, and loves the company of people...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The choice of the Apostles is a personal initiative of Jesus who “appoints” them as Twelve to refer to the community of believers constituting the 12 tribes of the “new Israel,” the chosen people of God, now called the Church (Greek ekklesia). With the selection of...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus embarks on the second phase of his ministry. In stark contrast to previous hostility of the Jewish religious authorities, Jesus is described as popular among the general populace by his healing touch and power over the demonic forces. The frenzy of the crowd pressing...
REFLECTIONS TODAY According to the scribes and the Pharisees, Jesus’ noncompliance with the Sabbath rest is proof that he is not a man from God. Jesus disputes this accusation by giving a deeper meaning to the Sabbath. Jesus claims to be “Lord even of the Sabbath” (Mk 2:28) and, as the Divine...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • Mark 2:23-28 The Hebrew term shabbath means “to cease or to rest.” The Sabbath signifies the apex of God’s creation. God blessed and sanctified the seventh day and made it holy (Gn 2:2-3). For Israel—and for all mankind—it is a rest day to...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Jewish rabbis, particularly the scribes and the Pharisees, would want to contain Jesus and his message in the ways of the Mosaic Law and their traditions. But doing so would be like containing the fresh and liberating spirit of Jesus’ teaching—the “new wine”—in the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY First Reading • 1 Sm 3:3b-10, 19 Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was. The Lord called to Samuel, who answered, “Here I am.” Samuel ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. You called me.” “I did not call you,” Eli said. “Go back to...
