REFLECTIONS TODAY The Bride in the Song of Songs is the symbol of Israel who longs for the Lord who alone can satisfy the human heart. To seek and to find God in the temple where he dwells is the dream of every pilgrim: “One thing I ask of the LORD; this I seek: to dwell in the LORD’S house all...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The first collection of Jesus’ teaching in the Gospel of Matthew is called Sermon on the Mount because Jesus gives it on the mountain. The parables of the Kingdom, on the other hand, are taught by Jesus as he sits down by the sea while the crowd stand along the shore. The first...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In the Gospel, when told that his mother and his brothers are standing outside, asking to speak to him, Jesus asks “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” He is not disparaging his blood relations, but rather declaring that the real link with him is not determined by blood...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The miracles done by Jesus have not seemingly convinced the Pharisees that Jesus comes from God. They are asking to see “a sign,” a definitive miracle that will convince them of the truth of Jesus’ claims. Jesus does not oblige them, however: for those who close their hearts...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Mk 6:30-34 The Apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. So they went...
REFLECTIONS TODAY With the Passover, the Israelites finally leave Egypt where they stayed for 430 years. When Joseph was governor in this land, they found security and grew to be numerous. But a Pharaoh who did not acknowledge what Joseph had done for Egypt saw them as a danger to his reign and...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In the Gospel, the Pharisees grumble against Jesus’ disciples for picking the heads of grain and eating them, which is not allowed on the Sabbath. In truth, they are grumbling against Jesus himself. Jesus answers by pointing to what David, the revered king of Israel, did when he...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Through Moses, the LORD God presents himself to the Israelites as the God of their fathers, “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (Ex 3:16). He is concerned about how they are being mistreated by the Egyptians and so will lead them out of their misery in Egypt. In short, the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY At the theophany at Mount Horeb, the Lord appears to Moses in fire flaming out of the bush. He reveals himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Because of his covenant with Abraham, the Lord will deliver the children of Israel from the oppression of the Egyptians. He then...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus, in turn, is disappointed at the towns of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. These towns near the Sea of Galilee have been recipients of Jesus’ preaching and mighty deeds or miracles. Jesus calls for repentance or change of heart as the proper disposition in welcoming the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY After the time of Joseph, the king of Egypt, who probably belongs to another dynasty, grows suspicious of the allegiance of the Israelites and oppresses them with hard labor (Ex 1:11). The Israelites who have grown numerous in time of peace now experience the might of Pharaoh’s...
REFLECTIONS TODAY MARK 6:7-13 Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick—no food, no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not...
