REFLECTIONS TODAY After his ascension to heaven, Jesus sends forth the Spirit as his first gift to the community of believers. In the First Reading we find the Apostles and other disciples huddled together, awaiting the Spirit’s coming. On the feast of Pentecost (corresponding to the Jewish feast...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Gospel of John ends with a description of “this disciple who testifies to these things and has written them” (v 24). It is his remembrance and perspective of Jesus that are contained in the Gospel, quite different from, but complementing, the testimony of the Synoptic...
REFLECTIONS TODAY John’s Gospel is focused almost entirely on Jesus. Less attention is given to the role of the Apostles (the Twelve) and of Simon Peter. To attune it to the accounts of the Synoptic Gospels and Acts where Peter is given a more prominent role of leadership, John’s epilogue...
REFLECTIONS TODAY When a person departs, as when a migrant worker leaves for abroad, he or she gives instructions to those he or she leaves behind, like the children who are entrusted to their guardians. At his own departure to go to the Father, Jesus gives a lengthy instruction to his disciples,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In Acts, Matthias was chosen by lot to replace Judas in the apostolic ministry from which Judas turned away (1:26). Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus to the high priest and bought a parcel of land with his wages. He met a tragic end when he fell headlong. This is another story of...
REFLECTIONS TODAY More than the other evangelists, John underlines Jesus’ intimacy with the Father. He declares in today’s Gospel: “I am not alone, because the Father is with me” ( v 32). Jesus is not spared of abandonment. His followers would leave him at certain points in his ministry. At...
BETTER DAYS The Pulitzer Prizes are considered among the most prestigious, if not the most prestigious awards for the fields of journalism, books, drama and music. This year we saw three Filipinas who were among the finalists of the Pulitzer for journalism: New York Times contributor Hannah Reyes...
REFLECTIONS TODAY First Reading • Acts 1:1-11 In the first book, Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught until the day he was taken up, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them by many proofs...
RELECTIONS TODAY The name is not simply a word or set of words by which a person is known, addressed, or referred to. The name represents the very person of the bearer. In the Old Testament, out of respect for the divine name, the name of the Lord God (Yhwh) is not pronounced, and God is given...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus is known for teaching in parables (Hebrew meshal), events from ordinary life that reflect how the Kingdom of God operates in life and history. In the Synoptic Gospels, mashal often takes the form of a story: e.g., the parable of the Prodigal Son, the parable of the Good...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The work of salvation, other than the work of Christ, is first of all “Trinitarian.” It begins with the Father who loved the world that he gave his only Son that the world might be saved through him (Jn 3:16-17). And with Jesus’ return to the Father, the Paraclete, the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The most famous lawyer (Latin advocatus) might not be a historical figure but a fictional character by the name of Atticus Finch in Harper Lee’s Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. In the film version, he is played by Oscar-winning actor Gregory Peck. Atticus...
