REFLECTIONS TODAY Chapter 24 of Matthew’s Gospel is called the discourse on the “end times” since it deals with the coming of the new age (the eschaton) in its fullness, with events that will precede it, and with how the disciples are to conduct themselves while waiting for this event. Jesus...
REFLECTIONS TODAY One of the things that plague most communities is the inability to handle confrontation, disagreement, and the mutual accountability when it comes to sin. Community living is very much part of human existence. A Christian formed in the ways of Jesus acknowledges his responsibility...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Gospel • Matthew 14:22-36 [or 15:1-2, 10-14] Jesus made the disciples get into a boat and precede him to the other side of the sea, while he dismissed the crowds. After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone....
REFLECTIONS TODAY Mark’s Gospel presents Herod as revering John to be a holy man. The Baptist’s execution is credited to Herodias’ own hatred and desire (6:19). In Matthew, however, the desire is Herod’s from the beginning. Herod Antipas received a quarter of his father’s (Herod the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY After hearing Jesus’ teachings, the crowds who came from all over the place are in admiring astonishment at him. In his hometown, however, the town’s folks could not believe that such powerful and gracious words come from an ordinary carpenter’s son who used to reside with...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Today’s Gospel reading is the seventh and last of the parables in Matthew’s 13th chapter. In his days, Jesus did not tell them one after the other as they are presented here. They are the work of the author’s editing, putting materials with a common theme into one place....
REFLECTIONS TODAY With the use of images of what the world considers precious and worth spending one’s energy and resources just to gain them, Jesus tries to explain that the Kingdom of heaven is the greatest treasure one can find for oneself. It gives one the greatest of all joys. It even moves...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The disciples ask Jesus to explain the parable of the Weeds in the field. Jesus tells his disciples that the Devil, the enemy, is the one who sows the weeds. When it is harvest time, the weeds—sinners and evildoers—will be cut down, collected, and burned up. On the other hand,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Though, strictly speaking, the mustard seed may not be the smallest, it is, proverbially speaking. Jesus contrasts here between the “smallest of all” (seed) and the “largest of plants” (shrub) (v 32). The shrub even becomes a tree that shelters birds in its branches. This...
REFLECTIONS TODAY First Reading • 1 Kgs 3:5, 7-12 The Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. God said, “Ask something of me and I will give it to you.” Solomon answered: “O Lord, my God, you have made me, your servant, king to succeed my father David; but I am a mere youth, not...
REFLECTIONS TODAY “Adulting” has become a buzzword among those transitioning from college life to work and family life. The word speaks of the shock of young people upon realizing how much effort is needed to be able to survive “real life.” The brain cannot simply process the many tasks to...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In our modern age, we are made to believe that only the empirically quantifiable matters. What we can measure with a rule stick or a weighing scale is the truth for some people. This obviously cannot be applied to our humanity and spiritual life. We cannot measure with any...
