REFLECTIONS TODAY A command during the Jubilee Year states, “Do not deal unfairly, then; but stand in fear of your God. I, the LORD, am your God” (Lv 25:17). This kind of fear is not the fear that Herod the tetrarch has. He is afraid of the people for killing John the Baptist whom they regarded...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus’ townsmen in Nazareth ought to be proud of him and to feel honored by his presence. Instead, they oppose and belittle him. They think they know him too well to pass a fair judgment on him. They think that Jesus’ humble origins do not qualify him for the fame and acclaim...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Like most Jews, Martha believes in the resurrection of the dead. So when Jesus says that her brother Lazarus will rise, she answers, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” But the distant, unknown future is hardly a balm for her present sorrow. Thus Jesus...
REFLECTIONS TODAY When Moses comes down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the commandments, the Israelites noticed how radiant his face had become (Ex 34:30). Having had intimacy with God, the divine radiance is reflected on his face. The Israelites have then an experience of the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Moses’ greatness flows from his intimacy with God. On entering the meeting tent, the Lord would speak to him face to face (Ex 33:11). At his death, he is given this accolade: “Since then no prophet has arisen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face. He had no...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Sirach praises Israel’s great ancestors in these words: “Their wealth remains in their families, their heritage with their descendants; through God’s covenant with them their family endures, their posterity for their sake. And for all time their progeny will endure…”...
REFLECTIONS TODAY JOHN 6:1-15 Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near. When Jesus raised his eyes and...
REFLECTIONS TODAY When Moses relates to the Israelites the words and ordinances of the Lord, they enthusiastically reply, “We will do everything that the LORD has told us” (Ex 24:3). But the people will have to face the “weeds” that will prevent them from being faithful: dangers, idolatry,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Decalogue or the Ten Commandments are gifts of God not just to Israel but also to the whole of humanity as they contain universal values. Jesus refers to them as summarizing the Law when he tells the rich young man, “If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments”...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Bride in the Song of Songs is the symbol of Israel who longs for the Lord who alone can satisfy the human heart. To seek and to find God in the temple where he dwells is the dream of every pilgrim: “One thing I ask of the LORD; this I seek: to dwell in the LORD’S house all...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The first collection of Jesus’ teaching in the Gospel of Matthew is called Sermon on the Mount because Jesus gives it on the mountain. The parables of the Kingdom, on the other hand, are taught by Jesus as he sits down by the sea while the crowd stand along the shore. The first...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In the Gospel, when told that his mother and his brothers are standing outside, asking to speak to him, Jesus asks “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” He is not disparaging his blood relations, but rather declaring that the real link with him is not determined by blood...
