REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • Mark 5:21-43 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea. One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus speaks of building his Church (ekklesia), not a material building but a community of believing disciples. Chosen to be its unshakable foundation, Simon is renamed Kepha (Peter), an Aramaic term for an entrenched rock. The Church will be made up of members of a new...
REFLECTIONS TODAY “Leprosy” (Greek lepra) is loosely used for unspecified skin diseases (Lv 13) which were regarded not only as ailments of the body but also as forms of uncleanness which merited separation from the community and its socio-religious life (Lv 13:45-46). A leper was considered a...
REFLECTIONS TODAY This is Jesus’ fearsome declaration of eternal excommunication for fake disciples. They are those who participate well in any liturgical celebration, proclaim and expound the Word of God, but they fail in the simple criterion of true discipleship: to listen to God’s Word and...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Scriptures attest to the phenomenon of persons claiming to be prophets alongside the authentic prophets sent by God. The latter call them “false prophets.” Since they come in “sheep’s clothing,” acting like the real prophets, they are hard to distinguish. Some indicators...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Pearls are valuable, and it is absurd to throw them before an uncaring animal. The Kingdom of God, which comes in the person and message of Jesus, is “a pearl of great price” (Mt 13:46). Jesus’ words are too precious to waste on the deaf ears of people who manifest outright...
REFLECTIONS TODAY As the son of a priest, John is supposed to be trained in the Temple services. Instead, he grows up in the desert, far from the luxury in which the Jerusalem priestly aristocracy lives. By his dress, diet, and preaching, John presents himself more like a prophet than a priest. He...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • Mark 4:35-41 On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples: “Let us cross to the other side.” Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was. And other boats were with him. A violent squall came up and waves were...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The imagery of the birds does not suggest idleness or passivity. Birds, like humans, actively look for food. Unlike humans, however, birds do not worry about what they will have for the next meal. Birds can neither produce nor store food. It is God who looks after them. It is also...
REFLECTIONS In biblical times, aside from fields/farms, treasures were in the form of coins and jewels, and fine clothes and costly textiles. There was the perennial danger of losing them to robbers, fire, and insects. In view of Matthew’s context which concerns practices of piety (almsgiving,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Pater Noster (Our Father) or the Lord’s Prayer is the prayer Jesus taught his disciples. The Gospels record the prayers that Jesus addressed to the Father on several occasions, including the longest—the Priestly Prayer in John 17. But this is the prayer that the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Against the popular Jewish understanding of love limited to one’s neighbor, that is, one’s fellow Israelite, Jesus extends the love-commandment to one’s enemies—one’s adversaries or outsiders. The sole motive is “that you may be children of your heavenly Father” (v...
