REFLECTIONS TODAY At the time of Jesus, the Jews saw the Gentiles as enemies and thus should be shunned and avoided. In the Gospel. Jesus speaks to the Jews who often misinterpreted God’s Law, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lv 19:18). They meant it to say, “Love your neighbor...
REFLECTIONS TODAY “Do I indeed derive any pleasure from the death of the wicked? says the Lord God? Do I not rather rejoice when he turns from his evil way that he may live?” (v 23, First Reading). God’s mercy never ceases. He is a father who forgives our sins if we are willing to...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Queen Esther’s plea in the First Reading was not for her sake but for the Jews who were in danger of being wiped out because of the evil designs of their mortal enemy Haman. Despite her fear and the near-impossibility of her request being granted, God disposed King Ahasuerus’...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In the First Reading, Nineveh is described as an “awesomely great city” (v 3) not just for its enormous size and power, but for its enormous sins. The Assyrians had destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel (Samaria) and driven the people into exile. No wonder, Jonah...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In telling us to call God “Abba,” the commonly used Jewish word for “father” or “Dad,” Jesus designates us as God’s children. And as we are his children, Jesus is our brother. The risen Jesus tells Mary Magdalene, “I am going to my Father and your...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The parable of the Last Judgment or the Judgment of the Nations tells us how we shall be judged personally once we pass on from this life or in the universal judgment at the glorious coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The criterion of judgment is not how we have attended to...
REFELCTIONS TODAY First Reading • Dt 26:4-10 Moses spoke to the people, saying: “The priest shall receive the basket from you and shall set it in front of the altar of the Lord, your God. Then you shall declare before the Lord, your God, ‘My father was a wandering Aramean who went down to...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In Jesus’ time, tax collectors were considered by the Jews as enemies of the people because they collaborated with their Roman conquerors. Tax collectors would also steal from their countrymen by secretly obtaining a percentage cut from the taxes they collected. They would...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Fasting is essentially giving up food for a period of time to focus one’s thought on God. In the Old Testament, it was often a way of expressing grief or a means of humbling one’s self before the Lord. In the New Testament, it was a means to grow closer to God through...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In the First Reading, Moses presents two paths for human beings: serve God and gain life and abundance, or worship idols and suffer poverty and death. But this is far from obvious. The Israelites saw how pagan nations prospered and how wicked people thrived in their worship of...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Today is Ash Wednesday. In receiving the ashes, we acknowledge that we are formed from the dust of the ground, and some day we will return to ashes. But we are precious in God’s eyes, given life and freedom, the same freedom given to angels. Using that freedom, our first...
REFLECTIONS TODAY 1 Peter 3:18 says that we now enjoy the salvation we have obtained from the suffering of Jesus on the cross through his Spirit that dwells in our hearts. This is not a reward that we will experience only in the future. We can now taste the peace, justice, and love...
