REFLECTIONS TODAY In the 2021 movie CODA (“child of deaf adults”), Ruby, the only hearing member of her family, helps her family’s struggling fishing business while pursuing her own aspirations of being a singer. When she decides to forgo college and join the business full-time,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The kosher laws of the Jews that mark what is “clean” and “unclean” did not just cover food; the Jews also had nothing to do with “unclean people”—the pagans around them and the schismatic Samaritans whom they looked down as only half-Jews. These people were not...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Various religions forbid the consumption of certain types of food. For example, most Hindus do not eat beef, and some Hindus apply the concept of ahimsa (nonviolence) to their diet and consider vegetarianism as ideal. Islam divides foods into haram (forbidden) and halal...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Fittingly, the memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes is celebrated as the World Day of the Sick, for the spring in the Grotto of Massabielle which the Virgin Mary pointed to Bernadette Soubirous has become a famous pilgrimage site for those who ask for physical and spiritual...
REFLECTIONS TODAY As in other societies in the ancient world, it was well understood that the Jewish people would always have the poor with them (Dt 15:11; Mt 26:11). The rich would be found mostly among the influential people, those who drew profit from their post and the favors granted by...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • Luke 5:1-11 Douglas C. Lloyd was an American minister and author best known for his historical novel “The Robe,” which hit the screen in 1953 and starred Richard Burton. This novel about the seamless tunic worn by Jesus in his passion was followed by a sequel, which...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Rest (Hebrew shabbath, “to cease” or “to stop”) is not just a cessation from work, strain, or activity. It means primarily to cease from one’s work in order to enjoy the fruit of one’s labors, to be free from anxiety and disturbance. The crown of...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus’ warning against those who will not welcome the Apostles and the message of salvation (Mk 6:11) finds its realization in the action of Herod Antipas. This tetrarch of Galilee, in his better nature, likes to listen to John the Baptist, knowing him to be a righteous and holy...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus’ followers are called “disciples” (Greek mathētai); they follow and learn from their Rabbi Jesus who teaches them how the Kingdom of God works in the hearts of human beings and in earthly realities. From his many disciples, Jesus chooses Twelve (dōdeka) and sends...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Since God would send prophets to a rebellious people, Israel, to a nation that has rebelled against him (Ez 2:4), the life of a prophet was never an easy one. In condemning corruption and oppression, idolatry, and wantonness, especially on the part of rulers and the rich, the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Mark breaks his narrative of Jesus’ restoring to life Jairus’ daughter with the story of the healing of the woman with a hemorrhage. This is called “sandwich” technique or intercalation to break a larger narrative. The woman who barges in the crowd is unnamed, unlike the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Gerasene territory is part of the Decapolis which is largely inhabited by pagans, which explains why herds of swine, considered by the Jews as unclean, are being pastured. Strangely, the Gerasenes who witness Jesus driving “Legion” out of the possessed man beg him...
