Reflections

The Greatest Commandment (Matt 22:34-40) Trying to start an argument with Jesus, one of the Pharisees asked for his opinion on the greatest commandment.  Jesus cut through all their commentaries and debates with a simple and challenging answer.  “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with…

Religion and Politics (Matt 22:15-21) Today’s Readings open up the contentious relationship between religion and politics, between the sacred and secular dimensions of life.  In the First Reading the political decision of the Babylonian King, Cyrus, unwittingly served the plan of God for the release of the Jewish captives.  In today’s Gospel, the enemies of…

God’s Invitation to us (Matt 22:1-4) Today’s Gospel is a parable about being invited to a wedding, not just any wedding, but the royal wedding of the king’s son. This parable of invitation and rejection was originally addressed to the chief priests and elders of the Jews. In Michelangelo’s famous fresco on the ceiling of…

Christ, the Keystone of Life (Matt 21:3-43) In today’s Gospel, Jesus addressed the Jewish leaders with the familiar imagery of the vineyard.  He was well aware that they were scheming and plotting against him.  So, he confronted them with a parable about evil tenants who killed not only the servants of the owner but his…

  Actions speak more loudly than words There’s more trouble down the farm today.  In last Sunday’s Gospel it was grumbling over wages in the vineyard.  This Sunday (Matt 21:28-31), it’s a father’s confrontation with a son who said he would do the job but he didn’t.   Conversely, the other son stamped out in blunt…

God’s Generosity (Matt 20:1-6) The parable of the workers in the vineyard is about God’s magnanimous generosity in contrast to human envy (Matt 20:1-16).  Every worker got the agreed payment but those who worked all day thought they should get more than those who worked no more than an hour. “Why be envious because I…

The Grace of Forgiveness When somebody has suffered a big injustice or hurt, forgiveness is very difficult.  In fact, human nature on its own cannot find full forgiveness.  But with the help of the Holy Spirit a new way of looking at the injustice emerges.  Today’s parable (Matt 18:21-35) is about a man who received…

Am I my brother’s keeper? According to the deep wisdom of the early pages of the bible, the first sin of the human race was the attempt of Adam and Eve to usurp the moral authority of God regarding the knowledge of good and evil.  The second sin was when Cain killed his brother and…

New Names, New Missions In the bible a new name meant a new mission.  Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do people say I am?” Names of former heroes were recalled.  “But who do you say I am?”  Simon, son of Jonah spoke up.  “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  This was…