REFLECTIONS TODAY LUKE 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 Like its parallel, the Magnificat, Zechariah’s prayer of blessing (Benedictus) proclaims what God the Lord has done for his people, Israel. It is a summary of God’s saving interventions towards Israel, culminating in the giving of a “mighty Savior, born of the house of his...
REFLECTIONS TODAY We can all write our own Magnificat . It would be interesting to read how in various ways God intervenes in the lives of each one of us. To magnify God or to proclaim God’s greatness seems easy. Sadly, as we go through life achieving great things, reaping successes, and becoming...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Gospel highlights the blessedness of Mary and Elizabeth, two channels of God’s graces. In the Bible, God is said to “visit” his people often. God is like a king who loves his people and visits them every so often to see how they are and to reassure them that he...
REFLECTIONS TODAY LUKE 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 The Gospel presents the paradigm of divine graciousness on the one hand, and typical human questioning or resistance to the divine offer (at least at the beginning) on the other. The muting of Zechariah seems to be God’s pedagogical way of leading an initially unbelieving person...
Family histories are replete with dramas and surprises. My own siblings’ history towards marriage was no exception: each one had a particular “script” with twists and turns, yet ending more or less happily. The story of Joseph and Mary unto becoming a family shares the human element of...
REFLECTIONS TODAY A relative recently produced a bound genealogy of our clan, tracing family roots and branches as painstakingly as possible. It was very exciting to see and discover the extent to which the roots and branches have extended by now. In a sense, this family tree gave us a sense of...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Every now and then we hear of individuals claiming to be God’s “appointed son,” God’s “sent,” or God’s “anointed.” And many people believe them, especially if they promise “blessings”—abundance or solutions to their problems—because they are adept at...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus’ parable is a metaphor referring to the Jews and the Gentiles in relation to God. The one who readily says yes, but actually does not go, pictures the Jews who are expected to follow God’s will. The one who says no, but later goes, are the Gentiles who are not...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Authority or power ( exousia in Greek) can come or be derived from various sources: the self (as in autocracy), the people (like in a democracy), and others. But ultimately it comes from God, as Jesus tells Pilate (cf Jn 19:11) or Paul writes to the Christians in Rome (cf Rom...
REFLECTIONS TODAY JOHN 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 priests and...
