REFLECTIONS TODAY The light of God’s word is a precious treasure which we need to share generously with others. Its influence in our lives must be made manifest through words of kindness, acts of care and concern for others. The more we listen to God’s word and apply it to our life situations,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus recognizes the difficulty of his disciples, their slowness in understanding. In the face of their obtuseness, Jesus continues to be a patient Teacher. Drawing close to them, he finds out why they cannot pay complete attention to his words. It is because they have other...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Matthew’s religious experience is the foundation of his vocation to discipleship. In this autobiographical episode, Matthew himself narrates how he meets Jesus, unexpectedly: in his work desk as a tax collector. Jesus calls him, and he follows immediately. But soon after, it is...
REFLECTIONS TODAY It is heartwarming how Luke mentions the women disciples as participants in Jesus’ proclamation of the Gospel, side by side with the Twelve. These women have the common characteristic of being “liberated” by Jesus from various suffering, empowering them now to be...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Sometimes in our desire to be found pure and sinless, we end up rejecting the shadow side of ourselves and of others. And we simply stop there. We fail to recognize the reality that freedom from sin has a further trajectory which is freedom for love, freedom to serve. The...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Reading through the context of Jesus’ saying, we can hear a note of near desperation as he shakes the stance of the scribes and Pharisees, his principal critics (Lk 7:29-30). They act like ambivalent, immature children in their attitude towards John the Baptist and Jesus. ...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • Luke 7:11-17 A biblical scholar once confessed how he searched the Gospels in trying hard to find a funeral sermon by Jesus. In the end, he gave up, saying he found none because at every instance, Jesus tried to “raise up the dead”! And so also in this Gospel...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus manifests his surprise as the centurion, presumably a nonbeliever and a representative of the occupying forces in the land of Israel, confesses his faith in Jesus’ authority. Call it “faith in unlikely places,” but it is there present; Jesus acknowledges it and...
REFLECTIONS TODAY First Reading • Is 50:5-9a The Lord God opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled, have not turned back. I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting. The Lord...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Today the Church commemorates the discovery of the cross of Christ in Jerusalem by Queen Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, in AD 320. The Gospel rightly brings to fore the meaning of Christ’s death on the cross. While we may look at it as the defeat of God’s Son,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The integrity of a person is seen in his or her degree of self-awareness and in the recognition of one’s deficiencies and limitations. The consistent and sincere living out of this virtue sooner or later helps the person to serve as a guide and teacher to others as well. But...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Sometimes we might think that the perfection God is asking from us is to do things flawlessly and with precision. We struggle to be the super responsible parent, exemplar employee, devout parish worker, and the like. But Jesus makes it plain that the perfection God wants from us...
