REFLECTIONS TODAY This saying can create adverse reactions, if taken out of context. It should be understood in the context of Jesus’ teaching on listening to the Word of God. First, Jesus teaches his listeners as to what happens when they are attentive to his words. They cannot but share...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Matthew 20:1-16a Jesus told his disciples this parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. Going out about nine o’clock, he saw...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The most important activity in the life of the disciples is hearing the Word of God. The parable of the Sower presents Jesus’ effort to sow and spread God’s Word to them. Jesus asks them to be good listeners. They learn better if they are attentive to it. Jesus’...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus is not traveling alone on foot. He is accompanied by the Twelve and some women who benefited from his power when he drove away evil spirits from them. These women accompany Jesus from one place to another, providing for his and the apostles’ needs out of their own...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The apostle Matthew is believed to be the author of the first Gospel, although it is possible that another Matthew could have written it. His name means “gift of the Lord.” After healing a paralytic in Capernaum, Jesus calls Matthew to follow him. He responds...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Pharisees and the scholars of the law are not prepared to accept Jesus in their lives. They will never accept him as the Son of Man, who comes to save sinners, because they have not been baptized by John. These people of their generation, the contemporaries of Jesus, have...
REFLECTIONS TODAY After healing the centurion’s servant in Capernaum, Jesus goes to Nain, accompanied by his disciples and a large crowd, walking the whole day. As he reaches the city, Jesus notices a funeral procession on the way. The people are going to bury the only son of a widow....
REFLECTIONS TODAY The centurion, not being a Jew, does not personally go to Jesus. Instead, he asks the Jewish elders to plead for him. The elders obey. They say that Jesus should listen to his pleading, for he loves their nation. He built their synagogue. They know him by his fruits. The previous...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Matthew 18:21-35 Peter approached Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • Luke 6:43-49 Jesus said to his disciples: “A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not pick figs from thornbushes, nor do they gather grapes from...
REFLECTIONS TODAY As Jesus hangs on the cross, his mother stands by him along with other women. There is no mention of her name. She is always addressed as “woman” in John’s Gospel. But we know it is Mary. When Jesus notices her presence at the foot of the cross, he says, in effect,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus converses with Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews, about things that are above, like the necessity of being born from above, which we refer to as baptism. Jesus knows what he is talking about, because he comes from above. The lifting up of Jesus, like that of the serpent in the...
