REFLECTIONS TODAY We often hear it said, as St. Paul also says, “Bad company corrupts good morals” (1 Cor 15:33). In fact, parents usually warn their children to choose who they associate or make friends with. The fear is that one becomes what one’s companions are. While this has truth in it,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY If the healing miracle narrated in today’s Gospel happened today, it would surely make the headlines, not just because of the healing itself, but the way this happened. Can we imagine an already paralyzed man having to be lifted up to a roof and from there, through a hole,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Letter to the Hebrews in the First Reading warns and encourages the hearers not to repeat the mistakes of their ancestors who contended with God in the desert lest they, too, end up like them, not being able to “enter into rest” (v 11), to inherit his promises. In...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Gospel narrative presents Jesus as having a very busy day doing all sorts of things: healing many sick people, driving out demons, teaching, etc. And yet part of his daily “routine” is a time for prayer and silence, a time to commune with his Father. We see, therefore, in...
REFLECTIONS TODAY A lot of videos in the internet advocate causes like ending poverty, saving the environment. I must say some of the speakers speak with such authority and credibility that I feel so convinced by what they are advocating. They might not have been celebrities, but I am so impressed...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Today’s Feast of the Lord’s Baptism is celebrated not because Jesus needed to be cleansed. Rather, Jesus allowed himself to be deemed sinful as an act of solidarity with sinful humanity. St. Paul is even more shocking when he says that for our sake God made Jesus who knew no...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Matthew 2:1-12 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...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Today’s Gospel records the first sign (Greek semeion) or miracle that Jesus performed in the Gospel of John. Jesus intervenes in a potential crisis by turning water into wine, thus saving the host from embarrassment. But this becomes an opportunity for Jesus’ glory to be...
REFLECTIONS TODAY What sort of preaching moves us or interests us, or bores us, or repels us? Normally, we are selective in what we want to hear. We only want pleasant, interesting, uplifting, and even flattering words. But there are times when we are caught listening to disturbing, irritating,...
What do you say to someone whom you knew was talking behind your back and saying something uncharitable about you? “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (v 46) says Nathanael when he is told by his companions that they have found the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. But this uncharitable comment...
REFLECTIONS TODAY One of the striking things about our Lord’s life is that he was always on the move, walking with people, accompanying them, visiting homes of the sick, and so on. Here, the first disciples who are following Jesus ask him where he is staying, and he invites them, “Come, and you...
REFLECTIONS TODAY What’s in a name? Today is the feast of the naming of Jesus. The name “Jesus” (Hebrew Yeshua) means “the Lord saves.” A name, therefore, that fully expresses who Jesus is or what he was born for. He was sent to a world full of sin, and evil, thus a world needing...
