"STAY WITH US, LORD" (Luke 24:29)

1st Reading      1 Corinthians 2:10-16 R. Psalm            Psa. 145,8-9.10-11.12-13.13-14 Gospel               Luke 4:31-37 Dear friends, today we are presented with one of Jesus' liberation acts presented as a healing. As outlined in his programmatic discourse which he expounded in a synagogue in Nazareth (yesterday's Gospel) to be on a mission of bringing good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, we see Jesus liberating a  possessed man.  This kind of story relayed by Luke already should stress the fact that Luke concerns himself more with works of a physician since he himself is a physician. We speak best in our fields.  Today's Gospel, I believe, engulfs our various situations in life, situations wherein we are chained by forces seeming to be beyond us. An encounter with Jesus sets the pace for a liberation from such challenging situations. With Christ, powerlessness, a sort of ...

1st Reading           1 Corinthians 2: 1-5 R. Psalm                 Ps. 119:97.98.99.100.102 (R.  97a)  Gospel                     Luke 4: 16-30 May Christ help us. We shall be concerning ourselves with Luke's Gospel with particular attention given to his activity in Galilee, as well as Paul's first letter to the Christian community in Corinth, as our first reading. Invariably, we are set to see missionary work outside the normal domain. Paul will preach to the Greeks, not Jews, while Luke, a Gentile Physician, will use stories of healing as any physician will do, and even due to his area to be outside the Jewish land, he will reference examples outside the expected areas to counter reactions against Jesus, especially from Pharisees and Scribes.  Our lives can be that which mirrors Christ's, if we learn to recognize the needs of the time, even ...

1s Reading          Ezekiel 12:1-12 Psalm                    Ps. 78: 56-57.58-59.61-62 (R. see 7b)  Gospel                   Matthew 18:21-19:1 A very important part of our lives concern our day-to-day interaction with others. This has become imperative because we are social beings and we necessarily need an interaction with other people in all spheres to live well.  While we endeavour to do this we come across obstacles that are inimical to healthy interactions. One of such is man's imperfection. These imperfections often lead us to offend others.  Amidst these imperfections, there is still room for reconciliation, and the Gospel has been addressing this theme since yesterday. The Gospel addresses the problem of man's inability to reconcile and forgive. With the mention of 'brother', Jesus makes it a very important point to speak about all those we come...

1st Reading       Ezekiel 9: 1-7; 10:18-22 Psalm                 Ps. 113:1b-2.3-4.5-6 (R. 4b)  Gospel               Matthew 18: 15- 20 The prophet Ezekiel, in today's first reading, narrates a vision of the slaughter of idolaters and also the consequent departure of God from Jerusalem. This departure meant doom for Israel as they will be exiled in Babylon by the Babylonians, first in 597 BC and then in 586 BC. The events, described by Ezekiel, are prior to the siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. Ezekiel's prophetic ministry spans through the Babylonian exile (592-570 BC) and hence, Ezekiel is often consulted when anyone seeks to know about the Babylonian exile of the Israelites. This is strengthened by the fact that Ezekiel himself was part of those taken to exile. Ezekiel's special concern for the purity of the Temple and the peace of Jerusalem is known by he being brought up in the p...

1st Reading          Ezekiel 2:8-3:4 Psalm                      Ps. 119: 14.24.72.103.111.131 (R. 103a)  Gospel                     Matthew 18: 1-5. 10. 12-14 We celebrate the memorial of St. Clare. Clare, at the age of 18, ran away from home to join St. Francis of Assisi and his followers. In this delight, she founded the Poor Clares. She was later joined by her sister and widowed mother. Clare had a rule drawn for the Poor Clares centered on poverty, prayer, discipline and holiness. Laxity set in gradually as is part of any religious order. In our own lives, too, we are always oscillating between being too strict and being too lax. It seems to be a universal tension in the human race. What should be the case should be the desire to remain faithful always. The readings of today invite us to embrace and promote Christian unity and discard that which sep...

1st Reading        2 Corinthians 9: 6b-10 Psalm                   Ps. 112: 1b-2.5-6.7-8.9 (R. 5a) Gospel                 John 12: 24-26   We start this week's reflection with an invitation to become servants just as we celebrate the feast of St. Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr today. In spite of persecution, he fervently served God's people to the point of death. His name occurs (with Pope Sixtus’, who was killed days earlier) in the Roman Canon of the Mass. We ask him to intercede for all Deacons who are preparing for their priestly ordinations that by availing themselves as vessels, “God may act upon remote substances [God's people] through them [less substances]” (Dionysius, Coel. Hier . xxiii; in Thomas Aquinas, Summa , Question 6, Article 1). The readings of today seem to sp...

1st Reading   Nahum 1: 15; 2:2; 3:1-3.6-7 R. Psalm         Dt. 32:35cd-36ab. 39abcd. 41 (R. 39c)    Gospel             Matthew 16: 24-28 Discipleship is a central issue to consider when we think of what to do in order to inherit the kingdom of God. Discipleship sets us as students and listeners and not always as the leaders that we sometimes wish to be.  In the Gospel of today from Matthew, we hear Jesus drawing our attention to two concepts, yet relating. He begins by speaking to his disciples about the issue of discipleship and then ends with the topic of the afterlife.  It is very important for us to note that our Gospel finds parallels with Mark (cf. 8: 34-38) and Luke (cf. 9: 23-27). Together, we speak of the Synoptic Gospels as relaying the passage, but with minute differences.  Discipleship, in our Gospel context, dwells i putting aside our wills, our parochial interests and submitting our freedom to ...

1st Reading    Daniel 7:9-10. 13-14 Psalm            Ps. 97: 1-2. 5-6.9 (R. cf. 1a. 9a)  2nd Reading   2 Peter 1: 16-19 Gospel              Matthew 17: 1b-9 Happy feast day. We celebrate the Transfiguration of the Lord. This particular feast recounts Jesus' encounter with Moses and Elijah. This event helps us to remember Jesus' revelation of his Glory to his Apostles; Peter, James and John. The event, in a joyful setting, amazed the apostles to the extent that Peter suggested the erection of three tents.  Clearly, the Gospel mentions a mountain. The mention of a mountain as a place for divine encounter is not new to us. We remember Moses going up the mountain to receive the law (cf. Exodus 24: 12).  The Psalmist also draws our attention to the fact that God possesses “the heights of the mountains” (cf. Psalm 95: 4). The Ark of Noah is also recorded to have rested on the mountains of Arara...

First Reading          Jeremiah 31:1-7 Psalm                       Jer. 31:10.11-12ab.13 (R. see 10d)  Gospel                      Matthew 15: 21-28 Even when we think we are outside the domain God's plan suffices for us too; for there is no disparity, no differentiation, unlikeness, state of being unequal of any sort when we deal with issues concerning God's love. God's mercy and compassion envelopes even the unsightly of society.  Today's Gospel situates Jesus in a foreign land, in the region of Tyre and Sidon. This region, with the Tyre and Sidon as very important towns, located along the Mediterranean, are found in Phoenicia, a Gentile state, so to say. This properly belongs to the Greeks. In this region, Jesus encounters a woman whose daughter was possessed.  However, the Gospel is also told by Mark (cf. Mk. 7: 24-30). While Matt...

First Reading         Jeremiah 30:1-2,12-15,18-22 Psalm        Ps. 102:16-18.19-21 and 22-23 (R. 17) Gospel                    Matthew 15:1-2,10-14 Today, we celebrate the Memorial of St. John Mary Vianney. He is celebrated today as patron of Priests. His dedication to duty and selflessness led many back to God. Although he was a weak student he was ordained on account of his devoutness rather than any achievement or promise. Like St. Pio of Pietrelcina, St. John Mary Vianney is also remembered as a very good confessor. Today, we ask God, thought the intercession of St. John Mary Vianney, to bless all Priests and renew in them zeal for the singular mission of the salvation of souls. Matthew's account is still of great concern today as we tend to have a continuous reading,  a lectio continua . At the heart of today's Gospel is the Jewish practice of washing. Jesus and his disciples were confron...

First Reading         Jeremiah 28:1-17 Psalm             Ps. 119:29.43.79.80.95.102 (R. 68b)  Gospel                     Matthew 14:22-36 Dear friends, we continue our reflection on some of the miracles of Jesus as relayed by Matthew. Yesterday, Matthew treated the feeding of the five thousand men, save children and women. Today, with John the Baptist's death and the feeding of the people as precedent, we hear another spectacular narrative, which I believe, we are familiar with. This is about Jesus' act of walking on the sea. In any case, we are continue from yesterday. We find Jesus, after feeding the people, sending them away while he himself goes into solitude to pray. The disciples were in a boat crossing to the other side. The next time we hear about Jesus was on the lake of Gennesaret or the Sea of Galilee walking on it. Jesus' act of walking on the sea establish...