REFLECTIONS TODAY In biblical tradition, God is in control of all creation and its elements. The Book of Job declares, “He alone stretches out the heavens and treads upon the crests of the sea” (Jb 9:8). Isaiah recalls God’s works thus: “Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of...
REFLECTIONS TODAY After reflecting on Baptism that ushers us to life eternal, we now focus on the Eucharist, the Bread of Life, which is presented in chapter six of John. It begins with another “sign”—the multiplication of the loaves and the feeding of five thousand people. Five barley loaves...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the Word of God who was with God in the beginning. As the only Son, he is also the Heir; the Father has given everything to him. He has the power to judge and to give life. As he proceeds from the Father, he knows and speaks about heavenly...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In speaking of his being “lifted up,” Jesus recalls an incident during the wanderings of the Israelites in the desert. With their patience worn out by the journey, the people murmured (rebelled) against God and against Moses. In punishment, they were bitten by saraph serpents...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In the second week of Easter, the Church focuses on the Ur-sacrament–Baptism: the entry into life in Christ and in the Church. At Pentecost, when people were moved by the preaching of Peter, they asked the apostles, “What are we to do, my brothers?” Peter answered, “Repent...
REFLECTIONS TODAY JOHN 20:19-31 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The original version of the Gospel of Mark ends in verse 8 of chapter 16, with the women still cowering in fear and overcome with bewilderment. Thus, they are unable to obey the command of the angel to convey to the apostles that Jesus will meet with them in Galilee. The Gospel...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In Matthew and Mark, Jesus calls the first disciples to be “fishers of men.” In Luke, Peter and his companions follow Jesus following a catch of a great number of fish (5:6-7). In the third apparition of Jesus in John, the risen Jesus is recognized because of the great catch...
REFLECTIONS TODAY On the road to Emmaus and later in the cenacle in Jerusalem, Jesus explains that what had happened in the last three days—his passion, death, and resurrection—had been written in Scriptures. This does not mean that the Old Testament has the “career” of Jesus already...
Reflections Today Luke has a beautiful story of Jesus’ appearance to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Jesus joins them on their journey, but they mistake Him for a stranger, as their vision is still blurred by grief and a sense of failure, and because to see the resurrected Jesus, their...
REFLECTIONS TODAY After Peter and the beloved disciple saw the empty tomb and departed, Mary of Magdala comes back, lingers for a while, desperately searching for the dead body of her beloved Rabbi. Immersed in her intense grief, she is hardly attentive to the presence of two angels, to whom she...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Matthew’s resurrection account combines two events—the discovery that the tomb is empty, and the appearance to Mary Magdalene and to the other Mary. Initially, the women are overtaken by awe by the theophany of the angel who tells them that Jesus has risen from the dead, and...
