In today’s gospel reading Jesus speaks of heavenly, spiritual mysteries being revealed to the childlike. That raises a question: How do we become childlike? The answer simply stated is: by becoming more like Jesus in the details of our daily life; and the more we become like Jesus, the more God the Father recognizes us […]

Today, Independence Day, is one of those days when a secular holiday seems to overshadow the liturgical calendar. These reflections are based on the readings of Wednesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time. At the conclusion of today’s selection from Matthew’s Gospel, we hear that the Garadene townspeople begged Jesus to leave their district […]

There is a saying that goes: “Blowing your own horn is a sure way to produce sour notes.” In today’s gospel reading, Jesus teaches the spirit that should animate our good works, namely, that they never become a spurious display of religiosity but rather express a genuine piety, which tends to conceal itself. Jesus teaches […]

Today’s Gospel touches on a subject that is foundational to the Christian gospel, namely, the teaching on life after death and on the resurrection of our bodies from the dead. Jesus’ response to the Sadducees leaves no doubt about the fact that we live on after death and that we shall possess a resurrected body […]

Today’s gospel is a continuation of Jesus’ Priestly Prayer. We hear Jesus ask the Father to give his disciples–-the disciples gathered around him and his disciples of every era–– four things: unity, perseverance, joy, and holiness. Jesus prays, “Father, keep them in your name.” He is asking for the disciples’ perseverance both in the teaching […]

Since vineyards were a familiar sight in ancient Israel, it is not at all surprising that Jesus would employ the image of the vine and the branches to speak of the profound relationship between himself and his followers. In fact the metaphor of the vine and the branches in today’s gospel has its basis in […]

In today’s gospel reading we find two great lines of thought. When Jesus says, “I am the bread of life,” we immediately think of the Eucharist. But Jesus’ reference to himself as “the bread of life” has a broader sense than the Eucharist only. Bread is the classic symbol of food, something that sustains life. […]

“Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?” Two of Jesus’ disciples, disheartened and disillusioned by the events of the previous days, were making their way down a road that was to return them to a place of familiarity and safety, a […]