REFLECTIONS TODAY The Gospel reading tells the resurrection story involving Peter and the “disciple whom Jesus loved.” He “outruns” Peter not only in running to the tomb but also in believing that Jesus is alive. His intimacy with Jesus makes him receptive to the signs in the empty tomb....
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Gospel passage belongs to the “Missionary Discourse” of Jesus (Matthew 10). In the historical context of Jesus’ ministry, the disciples are sent (they become apostles—“those sent”) to the people of Israel. Opposition to their message comes from the religious...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Lk 2:1-14 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town. And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Lk 1:26-38 The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” But she was...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In a style called diptych or narratives in “two frames,” Luke narrates the conception and birth both of John the Baptist and Jesus. The parallelism also serves to bring out that Jesus is the greater one. Although wondrous signs accompany the conception and birth of John, he is...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • Luke 1:46-56 Steeped as he was in Scriptures, the evangelist Luke would know that God’s greatest act—the sending of his Son in the fullness of time—would have to be celebrated in a song. For minstrel, he has found someone most fitting, one who had experienced...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Luke presents the birth of John the Baptist and of Jesus in parallel events as they develop in separate scenes. In the Visitation, he now brings the most important characters together in one setting. We have Mary meeting Elizabeth (and Zechariah); but more importantly, the main...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • Luke 1:26-38 The annunciation to Mary parallels that of the annunciation to Zechariah in the temple. Both form a diptych, that is, parallel panels which present two stories side by side in order to show similarities and contrasts. The basic steps in the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The old priest Zechariah and his barren wife Elizabeth remind us of the venerable patriarch Abraham and his barren wife Sarah. Luke certainly would also like to remind his readers of other “sons of promise” like Samson and Samuel. In Spe Salvi, his encyclical on Christian...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Today’s Gospel shows the unraveling of the mystery of Mary’s pregnancy and the lifting of the burden from Joseph’s heart. In a dream, the angel informs Joseph that Mary’s child has been conceived through the Holy Spirit. He will be the Messiah and he will save people from...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jn 1:6-8, 19-28 A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light. And this is the testimony of John. When the Jews from Jerusalem sent...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The liturgy for the first day of Simbang Gabi focuses on light. The light is not yet Jesus, the Light of the World. Rather, it is John the Baptist. It is true that “he was not the light, but came to testify to the light” (Jn 1:8). Jesus in the Gospel bears testimony to his...
