REFLECTIONS TODAY JOHN 3:14-21 Jesus said to Nicodemus: “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In his time, Hosea invited sinful Israel to return to the Lord after running after the pagan idols, which he called the sexual crime of “fornication” or “adultery” because Israel is the bride of Yahweh. No sacrifice in the temple could substitute for the love and...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Shema Israel (“Hear, O Israel”) is the central expression of Israelite faith, a declaration of faith in Yahweh and of love for the one true God. This confession of faith from Dt 6:4-5 is recited morning and evening by Jews to the present time. Jesus quotes the Shema in...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In fighting for the “united states” of America even at the cost of a civil war, Abraham Lincoln declared, “A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not believe the Union to be...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The evangelist Matthew loves to point to Scripture passages as being fulfilled by Jesus. Jesus says he has come to complete “the Law and the Prophets” (two words designating the whole of the Hebrew Scriptures or the Old Testament). However, he does not propose to literally...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The first servant’s debt to his master is, in the Greek original, murion talanton, 10,000 talents. The sum is clearly meant to stand for an incredibly huge amount. In modern terms, it has been likened to the national debt of a country falling upon a single citizen. The parable...
REFLECTIONS TODAY When he returns to Nazareth, Jesus is perceived as a prophet by his townsmen. The initial reaction of the people to his “sermon” in the synagogue is favorable. But when the people of Nazareth ask him to do in his native place what they have heard he was doing in Capernaum,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY JOHN 2:13-25 Since the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as the money changers seated there. He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep...
REFLECTIONS TODAY When the younger son comes to his senses and decides to go home, he is facing not just the ire of his father and older brother but also rejection and even physical abuse from the village people. What the father does in receiving him is intended to protect him from harm. He runs to...
REFLECTIONS TODAY When Jesus tells the parable of the Vineyard to describe how his message has been received, the scribes and the Pharisees understand that that they are likened to the wicked tenants who kill the son and heir. And yet they continue to reject Jesus. The parable, however, contains a...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Gospel parable underscores Jesus’ teaching on the proper use of wealth and sensitivity to the plight of a fellow human being. The contrast between the rich man (Dives) and the poor man Lazarus highlights the great divide between the two. Dives enjoys the comfort and...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus and the Twelve are on their way to Jerusalem. For the third time, Jesus predicts his passion that will happen there, but the disciples are not paying attention, obsessed as they are with the thought that Jesus will declare his “kingdom” there, and that they will share...
