Gospel • John 5:17-30 Jesus answered the Jews: “My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.” For this reason they tried all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath but he also called God his own father, making himself equal to God. Jesus answered and said to them,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The man had been ill for 38 years. When Jesus asks him if he wants to be well, he begins to tell Jesus about his situation — he has no one to put him into the pool when the water is stirred up and that someone else gets into the water ahead of him. The stirred-up water is...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Today we celebrate the Solemnity of St. Joseph, the Spouse of the Virgin Mary. In the Gospel of Matthew, the very first description of Joseph is that he is the husband of Mary. Being the husband of Mary is connected to another description of Joseph as a “righteous man”...
REFLECTIONS TODAY John 9:1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38 [or 9:1-41] As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth. He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes, and said to him, “Go wash in the Pool of Siloam” — which means Sent. — So he went and washed,...
Today’s Gospel reiterates the Shema (“Listen!”) passage found in Deuteronomy (6:4-5) and the love of neighbor found in Leviticus (19:18). Jesus puts the love of God and the love of neighbor together. These are inseparable. Toward the end of the passage, Jesus commends the scribe whom he...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Today’s Gospel narrates the birth and the naming of John the Baptist. Both Elizabeth and Zechariah want their son to be named John despite the fact that there is no one in their family who is called by this name. When asked by their relatives, the dumb Zechariah writes on a...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The preaching of the Kingdom of God did not die with Jesus on the cross. Inspired and empowered by the risen Christ, it was continued by the Twelve apostles and other ministers of the Word. The followers of Jesus started as a small band of Jews in Jerusalem, but later expanded to...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Pharisees and Herodians are flattering and courteous but they mean to trap Jesus. They are not interested in the truth. If Jesus affirms Roman taxation, he risks criticism from his followers who regard the Romans as oppressors. If he rejects it, he will face charges of...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Unlike Mark and Matthew who situate Jesus’ homecoming in the latter part of his ministry (Mk 6:1-6; Mt 13:54-58), Luke transposes it to the beginning. Jesus’ sermon in the synagogue of Nazareth is programmatic of his entire ministry. Jesus’ teaching is the fulfllment not...
REFLECTIONS TODAY People generally believe in the existence of spirits, demonic or good spirits. Most often spirits are believed to bring disaster. On encountering Jesus walking on the water, the disciples think they are seeing a water spirit and, understandably, they are afraid. Jesus allays the...
