REFLECTIONS TODAY In the synagogue in Nazareth where Jesus grew up, Jesus declares, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house” (Mk 6:4). Jesus’ kin would be his blood relatives or cousins. Seeing Jesus growing as an ordinary boy and...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Different kinds of people followed Jesus. The most numerous but least organized were the crowds who thronged around Jesus to listen to him and to benefit from his powerful deeds. There was also a group more attached to Jesus, followed him for a period of time, and even supported...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Sabbath (from Hebrew shabbath, “to rest, desist”) is the day of rest and abstention from work enjoined upon the Israelites. A gift from God like the Torah, it was a cornerstone of Israelite religious practice. Two major rationales are presented: (1) as a memorial of God...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Fasting, along with prayer and almsgiving, are the three pillars of Jewish piety. The fasts are always accompanied by prayer and supplication and frequently by wearing sackcloth as a sign of penance and mourning. A public fasting is required on the Day of Atonement. It can also be...
REFLECTIONS TODAY MARK 10:13-16 People were bringing children to Jesus that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Levi (“Matthew” in the Gospel of Matthew) is next to be called after the four fishermen: Simon and Andrew, James and John. He seems no better a prospect to be Jesus’ companion than the fishermen because he is a tax collector, sitting at the customs post. Levi must have...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Mark’s account of the healing of a paralytic shows elements of a firsthand testimony, and he must have derived it from the remembrance of Simon Peter. Peter would remember clearly that day when so many people gathered together at the house, probably his, where Jesus was teaching...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Leprosy in ancient times contains the idea of being struck or afflicted with an eruptive skin disease. It was an ailment characterized by the appearance of rough, scaly patches of the skin. The concern of the ancient peoples was not so much the contagion of the “biblical”...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Gospel of Mark is often described as fastpaced, almost breathless in its narrative. At the start of his public ministry, Jesus is presented as always on the move. He teaches and drives out a demon in the synagogue, heals Peter’s mother-inlaw in Peter’s house, and attends...
REFLECTIONS TODAY One day, in the synagogue in Capernaum, the people are surprised by something new: a new teaching with authority, with the unclean spirits subject to the command of Jesus. Here is the rabbi who does not depend on the famous teachers of Israel in his interpretation of the Mosaic...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The earliest account of the call of the first disciples is from the Gospel of Mark (1:16-20). The peremptory response of the “Big Four” (Simon and Andrew, James and John) in leaving their nets and family points not only to the magnetic and authoritative figure of Jesus, the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY MARK 1:7-11 This is what John the Baptist proclaimed: “One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” It happened in those days that Jesus came...
