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...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jacob learns the fate of his family — of his twelve sons — as they leave Canaan to migrate to Egypt. There, they will become a great nation (Gn 46:3). But turning numerous will arouse fear in Pharaoh who will enslave them. Through Moses, however, God will rescue his people and...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The saga of Joseph “the dreamer” culminates with his self- revelation to his brothers and his assurance of forgiveness. A man of wisdom, he tells them that God allowed him to be sold as a slave for the sake of saving lives (Gn 45:5). He restores peace to the house of Jacob....
REFLECTIONS TODAY Joseph, sold as a slave, then turned governor of Egypt, sends his brothers back to Canaan with food for their starving families. Later, he brings his father Jacob and Jacob’s entire family to Egypt and settles them in the pasture land of Goshen. The twelve sons of Jacob, the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY When he prevails over some strange man who wrestles with him, Jacob never releases the “man” until the man blesses him. This results in his being renamed “Israel,” meaning, he has wrestled with divine and human beings and has prevailed (Gn 32:29). In the Gospel, Jesus,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jacob realizes that God is always with him, protecting him wherever he goes, never leaving him until God has done to him what he promised (Gn 28:15). No wonder, he calls the place where God manifested himself in a dream Beth-El, “the house of God.” The woman suffering...
REFLECTIONS TODAY MARK 6:1-6 Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples. When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him?...
