REFLECTIONS TODAY After Jesus raises Lazarus back to life, the excitement caused by the miracle worries the members of the Sanhedrin. If they leave Jesus alone, people will flock to him and acclaim him king. This will surely invite the heavy hand of the Romans. Caiaphas, head of the Sanhedrin, sees...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The majority of references in the Bible treats of the Jordan River as a boundary,as evidenced by the cluster of passages that speak of “beyond the Jordan,” “on the far side of the Jordan,” “across the Jordan.” Because it is the boundary of the Promised Land, the Jordan...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The annunciation means that God involves human beings in his plan of salvation. Here, the Lord invites a young virgin to be the mother of the Son of the Most High. Because she always considers herself the servant of the Lord, Mary agrees, in total trust. Blessed is she in her...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In the discussion with the religious leaders in Jerusalem during the feast of Tabernacles, Jesus identifies himself consistently with the Father who sent him. He even refers to himself as “I AM,” the divine name by which God revealed himself to Moses (Ex 3:14). Jesus then...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The story of the adulterous woman caught in flagrante delicto presents Jesus as a merciful judge and savior, in contrast to the judgmental scribes and Pharisees. The issue is not the right application of the Law but rather the move of Jesus’ detractors to shame him before the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jn 12:20-33 Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Micah’s prophecy is clear in the consciousness of people as to the origin of the Messiah. When Herod asks where the Messiah would be born, the chief priests and the scribes point to Bethlehem in Judea, as written in the prophet Micah (5:1). The people in today’s Gospel also...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In the Gospel, the only one called by the title “son of David” other than Jesus is Joseph. “Son of David” is a messianic title, based on the promises of God by the mouth of Nathan the prophet: God would raise up a son after David and establish the throne of his kingdom...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Just as the Father is at work, so is Jesus whose food is to do the work of him who sent him and to accomplish his work (Jn 4:34). Jesus says that he depends on the Father in what he does (to continue the Father’s life-giving and redemptive activity) and how he judges. He acts in...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Jews accuse Jesus of blasphemy because he calls God his own father, making himself equal to God. In Jewish mentality, the son mirrors his father; the son is the image of his father. Jesus declares that God shares his power and authority wiith him: to give life and to exercise...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In Jerusalem, many sick people flock in the pool of Bethesda because they believe that its moving, bubbling water has curative powers. It is said that an angel comes down to stir it, and the first one into the water has the best chances of being healed. Jesus finds a paralyzed man...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus worked his first “sign” or miracle at Cana where he made the water wine at the behest of Mary, his mother. The sign in the Gospel of John is made to awaken faith and confidence in Jesus, and as a result “his disciples began to believe in him” (2:11). In the second...
