REFLECTIONS TODAY Herod was a bloody despot who ordered the killing of his own sons at a mere suspicion of wanting his throne. Emperor Caesar Augustus remarked that it was better to be Herod’s pigs [animals he would not touch because these were considered “unclean” by the Jews] than his own...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In a style called diptych or narratives in “two frames,” Luke narrates the conception and birth both of John the Baptist and Jesus. The parallelism also serves to bring out that Jesus is the greater one. Although wondrous signs accompany the conception and birth of John, he is...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Both the Matthean “Sermon on the Mount” and Luke’s “Sermon on the Plain” end with a “demonstration story” of two foundations. Matthew has “rock” and “sand” while Luke has “rock” and “without foundation.” “Rock” stands for a solid foundation while...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Simon and Andrew, the sons of John or Jonah (Mt 16:17), are the first to be called by Jesus to be “fishers of men” (v 19). They are soon joined by their partners in fishing, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Their response is quick, which becomes the model for those who are...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jerusalem, the city of peace (Hebrew shalom) is a prominent place, for here stands the Temple: the place of God’s presence among his people. Jesus weeps over this city where his destiny will be accomplished. He comes as a meek king to offer the way of peace, but people, moved by...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The blind beggar hears that Jesus is passing by. The crowd recognizes only the historical Jesus, a popular rabbi from Nazareth. The blind man’s exclamation, “Jesus, Son of David” (v 38), alludes to his and Israel’s expectation of the Messiah who has been sent by God...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Matthew 25:14-30 [or 25:14-15, 19-21] Jesus told his disciples this parable: “A man going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one—to each according to his ability. Then he...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The parable of the Widow and the Dishonest Judge pays attention to widows as a class often neglected in Israel. And so the Lord often gave warnings against maltreatment of widows. In the early Church, the believers took care of widows, and when there was a complaint that...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In the intervening period from the time of Jesus’ ministry until the final age (the eschaton), what will be the dispositions of humanity? By alluding to the days of Noah and Lot, where people were immersed in immorality and depravity, Jesus warns his disciples of the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Kingdom of God can be described in three facets. First, in its Christological dimension—Jesus inaugurated the Kingdom of God in his person. The Kingdom of God is present in him: “If it is by the finger of God that [I] drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In driving the sellers of sacrificial animals and the moneychangers away from the Temple area, Jesus does not simply “clean” the Temple of those who make the area a “marketplace” during the Passover festival. If so, this will not displease the Temple authorities at all!...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus demands from his disciple total commitment. The priority of acting out God’s plan—the proclamation of the Kingdom of God — takes precedence over “father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life” (v 26). Discipleship means...
