REFLECTIONS TODAY The Hebrew shabbath means to cease or to rest. The Sabbath day commemorated God’s day of rest after he finished the work of creation. It was a sign of the covenant between God and his people. “Remember the Sabbath day—keep it holy,” God commanded his people (Ex 20:8). And...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The only fast prescribed in the Torah of Moses was that of the Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement (Lv 16:31). Regular fasting became common in later Judaism when pious Jews fasted twice a week out of devotion. Some occasionally fasted out of grief. However, some fasted for a...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • Matthew 18:1-5, 10 Bible scholars note that Matthew had gathered Jesus’ teachings in five discourses or “books,” probably after the “five books” of Moses or the Pentateuch. The fourth book is often called the “Church Order” discourse, but rather than...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In Capernaum, when it is made known that Jesus is at home (probably in Simon’s house), people flock to the house, some bringing with them their sick, like the paralyzed man. Mark mentions “mat” (“bed” in Matthew and Luke) and the “(thatched) roof” (“tiles” in...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Leprosy is a sickness that makes a person unclean, not only physically, but also ritually. The suffering of those who are afflicted is more psychological than physical. Lepers were ostracized and kept away from the community. Despite his need to be cleansed, it is interesting that...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • Mark 1:29-39 The Jews and other Mediterranean people in Jesus’ time were patrilocal. As norm, the woman would stay in her husband’s house, or in the house of her married son, not with the family of her married daughter who now belonged to her...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • Mark 1:21-28 The power that Jesus shows in driving out the unclean spirits (demons) is a manifestation that the dominion of God is now being established over the “dominion of Belial,” freeing human beings from the subjection of the devil. Ancient peoples...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The first thing that Jesus does when he starts his mission of proclaiming the reign of God is to call two sets of brothers: Simon and Andrew who are casting their nets into the sea, and James and John who are mending their nets after fishing. These are fishermen plying their boats...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • Luke 3:15-16, 21-22 In Israel, the portal by which a male child joins the covenanted people of God is through the rite of circumcision, done on the eighth day after birth. When it is done on the “first day” of the week, the child becomes a “new creation.”...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Synoptic Gospels tell of Jesus preaching in the synagogue of his native Nazareth where people first speak highly of him but later reject him for hurting their pride as God’s chosen by mentioning that the prophets ministered to the pagans ahead of Israel. John, in turn,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Synoptic Gospels tell of Jesus preaching in the synagogue of his native Nazareth where people first speak highly of him but later reject him for hurting their pride as God’s chosen by mentioning that the prophets ministered to the pagans ahead of Israel. John, in turn,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus’ actions relive God’s powerful interventions during Israel’s wandering in the desert on the way to the Promised Land. His multiplication of the bread and fish that precedes this event anticipates the Eucharist and looks back to the feeding of Israel with manna in the...
