Reflections today Jesus enjoins his disciples to refrain from being showy or hypocritical. Image building is its own reward, but the true recompense comes from the Father who is generous, merciful, and just—and who sees in secret. While we remain dependent on the graciousness of God, we humbly...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The people of Israel considered themselves as chosen children of God by a special bond of covenant relations. As descendants of Abraham with whom God made a covenant, they felt a unique kinship with God. In a controversy with Jesus, the Jews told him, “We have one Father,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Human justice demands parity, that is, one-to-one correspondence; thus, the ancient law of talion, the law of like manner or the equivalent. The rule of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” was meant to limit violent clannish retaliation or the blood feud, as the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY First Reading • Proverbs 8:22-31 Thus says the wisdom of God: “The Lord possessed me, the beginning of his ways, the forerunner of his prodigies of long ago; from of old I was poured forth, at the first, before the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, when...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The preaching of the Kingdom of God did not die with Jesus on the cross. Inspired and empowered by the risen Christ, it was continued by the Twelve apostles and other ministers of the Word. The followers of Jesus started as a small band of Jews in Jerusalem, but later expanded to...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The first part of the Gospel illustrates the deeper meaning of the sixth beatitude: “Blessed are the clean of heart (Greek katharoi tē kardia), for they will see God” (Mt 5:8). It invites us to see man and woman as partners in a covenant relationship, rather than as mere...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The scribes and the Pharisees who have studied the Mosaic Law were revered in Israel in Jesus’ time. The title rabbi or “my great one” was given to them. Their interpretation of the Law was sought in different aspects of life. Their righteousness was based on their strict...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Fulfilling the Law does not mean obeying the Mosaic Law to the letter, but to adhere to the “spirit” of the commandments, as intended by the Lord who gave them to Israel. Jesus certainly followed the Sabbath rest and the traditional forms of piety like fasting, prayer, and...
REFLECTIONS TODAY After the destruction of human beings in the Great Flood and their being scattered all over the world when they started to build the Tower of Babel, the Lord began again his saving work, albeit in a small way, by calling Abraham. Abraham would have many descendants and in them...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The obligatory memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, was inscribed into the General Roman Calendar on Monday after Pentecost to portray Mary’s collaboration with the mission of Jesus, as well as her unity with the Apostles and other disciples at the birth of...
REFLECTIONS TODAY FIRST READING • Acts 2:1-11 When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY A long line of tradition has associated the Beloved Disciple, the author of the Fourth Gospel, with the Apostle John. In the Synoptic Gospels, though close to Simon, John has a subordinate role. In the Fourth Gospel, the Beloved Disciple is at par with Simon Peter. He is the...
