REFLECTIONS TODAY Eternal life is contrasted with the “wrath of God” as the “harvest” a person reaps if he or she refuses to believe in Jesus, the Son of God. Eternal life is not just endless life but also fullness of life, the kind of life that the Holy Trinity enjoys and promises us. But...
REFLECTIONS TODAY While many times in the Gospel of John the world (kosmos) is given a negative connotation (as those who refuse to believe in Jesus or who hate him), here in this perhaps the most famous line of the New Testament (Jn 3:16) we have a very clear declaration of God’s intense and...
REFLECTIONS TODAY While many of us Catholics have become a little “allergic” to the expression being “born again” as it is being almost exclusively claimed by some sects, the idea of a necessary rebirth or renewal of life reverberates in the whole of Holy Scriptures, from Genesis to...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In our busyness at building our lives, rearing a family, earning a living, we may forget that beyond building our human lives, we are also disciples of Jesus who, like the disciples at the end of Mark’s Gospel, are commissioned to go forth and imitate their Lord and Master,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY JOHN 20:19-31 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Reflections today A lady friend of mine years ago told me she was going to Latin America to be a lay missionary. I was quite surprised by the “grandiose” plan she had when, no offense meant, she was “just” from a small barrio in our hometown. Whether she heard about...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Every now and then this question is being asked, including by some coffee advertisers: “For whom do you wake up?” In general, people do not like to wake up early; for them, waking up is a great challenge. And so to make a sleepyhead get up, his/her loved ones prepare breakfast...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The disciples of Jesus are truly traumatized by what they saw happened to their Master that even when he appears to them, believing is a great challenge. And so Jesus has to do everything to convince them: show them his scarred hands, feet, and side, asking them to give him...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Frustrations are very much part of our life. When our plans and dreams are blocked or not realized, we get frustrated. The greater the hope and energy we invest on something, the greater the possibility of frustration, too, if it fails. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus are...
REFLECTIONS TODAY It is not easy for the disciples to recover from the tragedy of seeing their Master being crucified and dying on the cross. Thus, even with the joyful news of his resurrection, the disciples struggle to understand how it is possible. Thus, their fear and shock at seeing Jesus come...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jn 20:1-9 On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The resurrection of Jesus is the height of his vindication by the Father. If he was not raised, then he would be confirmed and judged forever as a great liar and impostor. It is hard to imagine a more glorious experience than Jesus being raised from the dead. No one could match...
