REFLECTIONS TODAY From the district of Tyre, in Lebanon, Jesus goes back to the shores of Galilee, in particular to the district of Decapolis (Ten Cities), east of the Jordan River. Upon arrival, the people, like the Syro-Phoenician woman, beg Jesus to lay his hand on the deaf-mute to cure...
REFLECTIONS TODAY From Capernaum, Jesus goes to the district of Tyre, north of Galilee, incognito, away from the prowling Pharisees and scribes of Jerusalem, who recently gave him a headache. He wants a break. He is still stressed by them. Yet as soon as he enters a house, a Syrophoenician...
REFLECTIONS TODAY After being challenged in Gennesaret by the Pharisees and their scribes from Jerusalem, Jesus resumes teaching the crowd when he gets home in Capernaum. His topic is connected with the issue raised by his hostile visitors from Jerusalem. What defiles a person is not what he eats,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • Mark 7:1-13 When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands. (For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without...
REFLECTIONS TODAY After feeding the 5,000 men and walking on the water to catch up with his disciples whom he sent ahead of him, Jesus becomes so popular. Upon disembarking in Gennesaret, southwest of Capernaum, Jesus starts preaching. People recognize him wherever he goes. They bring to him their...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • Mark 1:29-39 On leaving the synagogue Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her. He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus invites his disciples to rest a while after they come back from their mission. They must be tired, yet they are happy to report of their accomplishments, in contrast to Jesus who failed in his hometown. Now they need to withdraw from the crowds to rest and reflect on...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Today, the whole Church celebrates the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. It is also a big day for Marian devotees. They celebrate Mama Mary as Purisima Concepcion. Joseph and Mary go to the Temple to present Jesus 40 days after his birth. It is also the time for Mary’s...
REFLECTIONS TODAY After being rejected by his townmates in Nazareth, Jesus goes to the nearby villages to teach. He then calls the Twelve (Apostles). He sends them to exorcise evil spirits, to preach repentance, and to heal the sick. They will replicate what he has been doing in...
REFLECTIONS TODAY What a contrasting reception of Jesus! Whereas people in the mostly pagan Decapolis were “amazed” when Jesus drove “legion of demons” out of the possessed man (Mk 5:20), in his native Nazareth Jesus is “amazed” at people’s lack of faith. After all, Jesus looks...
REFLECTIONS TODAY First Reading • 2 Sm 18:9-10, 14b, 24-25a, 30—19:3 Absalom unexpectedly came up against David’s servants. He was mounted on a mule, and, as the mule passed under the branches of a large terebinth, his hair caught fast in the tree. He hung between heaven and earth while...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus’ encounter with the demoniac happens in the territory of the Gerasenes, a Gentile region. Though the man possessed by the unclean spirit shows extraordinary strength that no man can subdue him, yet the demonic forces are no match for Jesus, who is the “stronger one.”...
