REFLECTIONS TODAY We often hear people say, “God is a God of surprises.” Many of us would probably agree. God is not under any law or principle determining his actions. The Jews argued that nothing is written in their Scripture that a prophet is to rise from Galilee, and they held on to this as...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The three verbs in v 29, “know,” “am” (from), and “sent” all corroborate Jesus’ claim to be of divine or heavenly origin. He declares to know the Father—a knowledge which we imagine to be an intimate one just like we, children, know our parents, for we share the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • JOHN 5:31-47 Jesus said to the Jews: “If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is not true. But there is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true. You sent emissaries to John, and he testified to the truth. I...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Compared with the other evangelists, John has Jesus refer to God as “Father” so frequently that the title becomes almost synonymous with God. Jesus addresses God as no other Jew would dare, as Abba, the address of the children, young or old, to their father to show their...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Given that the royal official, possibly a Gentile, does seek out Jesus for the sake of his son who is near death, we wonder at the harsh tone of Jesus’ words, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” Jesus has in mind people both in Galilee and Judea...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Lk 15:1-3, 11-32 The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So to them Jesus addressed this parable. “A man had two sons, and the younger...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The two characters in the parable are a study in contrast. The Pharisee is true to his obligation as a faithful Jew: prayerful and paying tithes for the support of the Temple. He obeys the commandments of the Law. The tax collector, on the other hand, may not be as bad as the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In declaring herself the handmaid of the Lord, Mary is saying that she is totally at the Lord’s disposal. She does not mean to number herself among those honored by the title “servant of the Lord.” Yet for the evangelist Luke, this humble girl of Nazareth is “looked upon...
REFLECTIONS TODAY “Finger of God” is an expression used by the sacred authors to point to God’s power to do mighty signs and wonders for his people Israel. The two tablets of the Ten Commandments were inscribed by God’s own finger (Ex 31:18). The hosts of heaven—the sun, the moon, and the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY What Jesus understands by coming to fulfill the Law is not that he is ready to follow the Law in its smallest details; that would be to miss the point of the Sermon on the Mount where he goes beyond the Law. Jesus is even criticized by the scribes and the Pharisees for doing away...
REFLECTIONS TODAY For having been forgiven such a huge debt, the servant should have forgiven his fellow servant of the pittance owned to him. And yet he tries to squeeze out of him all he can. What Jesus wants to say in the parable is that we owe God an infinite measure. God readily pardons us our...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Greek dektos, here rendered as “is accepted,” is better rendered as “is favorable,” or “favors,” with the phrase running: “No prophet favors his own native place.” The meaning is not to dislike one’s native place or one’s countrymen but rather not to be...
