REFLECTIONS TODAY The parable of the Wedding Banquet presents three kinds of guests invited to the wedding feast, which refers to the heavenly Kingdom. The first, those who are invited but refuse to come, are God’s chosen people: the Israelites. God sends them prophets whom they refuse. In the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The parable aims to shock people into letting go of their comfortable concept of God. The early comers see God as a just judge who rigorously gives people their due. But the parable shows that God is not only just, he is also good. Jesus challenges our conventional ways of...
REFLECTIONS TODAY This Sunday’s readings highlight the universal scope of God’s salvation; his love and grace extend beyond the boundaries we often set. They invite us to reflect on God’s boundless mercy that encompasses all humanity. In the First Reading from the book of Isaiah, God declares...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus is teaching his disciples that forgiveness is not about keeping score—for even if “seven” symbolizes completion or perfection in the Bible—yet it should be boundless and inexhaustible. The parable of the Unforgiving Servant serves as a stark contrast between God’s...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Self-denial and bearing one’s cross is central to Christian discipleship. It means surrendering one’s desires and ambition to follow the path that Jesus sets before us. In a world that often promotes selffulfillment and personal gain, Jesus’ words challenge us not to seek...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Gospel tells us how to anchor our hope in the Lord: “to listen” to God’s beloved Son and “to gaze” at his transfigured face. To listen to Jesus is to accept that his mission as Savior includes his suffering and death. To gaze at his face means to look beyond the face...
REFLECTIONS TODAY What is striking about the parable of the dragnet as a metaphor for the Kingdom is that it does not simply “catch” the good fish, but also the bad or undesirable ones. The net catches all sorts of fish and non-fish in the process. This implies that the Kingdom is offered to...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In the light of today’s Gospel, we wonder if we would accept Jesus the way most of the Jewish authorities did, or the way the disciples did. Most of the authorities rejected him, and so Jesus’ teachings to them remained “parables,” that they could not understand or...
REFLECTIONS TODAY What is striking in this short passage is that Jesus who is perhaps the busiest person in his time and place is the one inviting people to come to him for rest! Would he be a good example when he himself is so busy with the affairs of his Father? The truth is the Lord, no matter...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • Matthew 13:1-9 [or 13:1-23] Interpretations of the Gospel parable often focus on three aspects: spiritual receptivity, spiritual endurance, and spiritual growth and responsibility. Indeed, these three dimensions are at the heart of the parable. First, the parable...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Many of us are trained to prepare for the unforeseen and unexpected. We are instructed on how we can minimize disasters by being proactive, vigilant, or thorough when we embark on something. We bring extra pieces of clothing, food, water, medicines, etc. We think of what we might...
REFLECTIONS TODAY This episode makes us realize how other people are often the instruments of our healing and salvation. Being paralytic, the man in the Gospel could not but rely on the generosity and compassion of his friends. And the way they used every means to have him cured by Jesus made even...
