REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • Mark 4:35-41 On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples: “Let us cross to the other side.” Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was. And other boats were with him. A violent squall came up and waves were...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The imagery of the birds does not suggest idleness or passivity. Birds, like humans, actively look for food. Unlike humans, however, birds do not worry about what they will have for the next meal. Birds can neither produce nor store food. It is God who looks after them. It is also...
REFLECTIONS In biblical times, aside from fields/farms, treasures were in the form of coins and jewels, and fine clothes and costly textiles. There was the perennial danger of losing them to robbers, fire, and insects. In view of Matthew’s context which concerns practices of piety (almsgiving,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Pater Noster (Our Father) or the Lord’s Prayer is the prayer Jesus taught his disciples. The Gospels record the prayers that Jesus addressed to the Father on several occasions, including the longest—the Priestly Prayer in John 17. But this is the prayer that the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Against the popular Jewish understanding of love limited to one’s neighbor, that is, one’s fellow Israelite, Jesus extends the love-commandment to one’s enemies—one’s adversaries or outsiders. The sole motive is “that you may be children of your heavenly Father” (v...
REFLECTIONS TODAY What does “turning the other cheek” mean? Does Jesus bid his disciples to invite a second blow? When he himself was unjustly struck in the face, he reacted strongly against the striker (Jn 18:22-23). Like the sayings about tearing a right eye and cutting off a right hand (Mt...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • Mark 4:26-34 We might wonder why, in the parable of the Mustard Seed, Jesus calls the mustard seed (Greek sinapi) the “smallest” of seeds and the mature mustard plant the “largest” of plants in the garden, when there were smaller seeds and larger plants....
REFLECTIONS TODAY An oath is a guarantee to the truthfulness of one’s statement. In the court of law, a witness is made to swear to tell “the truth, and nothing but the truth.” Originally, the oath formula had the character of conditionally cursing oneself if the statement should prove false....
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Bible uses different terms for sexual sins, the violation of the sixth commandment, “You shall not commit adultery.” There is adultery (moicheia) when a man has an illicit intercourse with a married or betrothed woman. The act between a man and unmarried woman is called...
REFLECTIONS TODAY To be called “least” or “greatest” in the Kingdom of heaven does not suggest that there is a hierarchy in God’s Kingdom, or people are classified in the order of their “sanctity.” Like the Jewish teachers, Jesus uses the expressions “greatest” and...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In biblical times, as in our own, salt is seen as a necessity of life. It is used as a condiment to give taste to food and to preserve food from decay and corruption. It also has medicinal purposes: it was a custom to rub salt on a newborn child. Lastly, salt was associated with...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Today we start Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, the first and the most important of the five Great Discourses in the Gospel of Matthew. It begins with the Beatitudes, Jesus’ declaration of who truly are macarioi—happy or blessed—of human beings. The Beatitudes turn the usual...
