30. Lk 9: 1-6

Lk 9: 1-6: Jesus pronounces the missionary command. It requires a life style which is a combination of strategy, customs and trust in God. It also requests us to have a trust deeper into the faith we have received and requires our experience as a community of Jesus. Our own realization of the gift of faith should enable us to contribute to the missionaries who are working elsewhere.

29. Jn. 1: 43-51

Jn. 1: 43-51: The calling of the first disciple Jesus is inviting Nathaniel and all of us to a higher vision: to see him as the new Bethel, the house of God, the person in whom there is the plenitude of divine presence. If we steadily grow in our life of faith, we will reach the climax of experiencing Jesus as he is.   

28. Mk. 8: 31-38

Mk. 8: 31-38: Peter’s reaction to Jesus’ suffering and death seems to be the satanic opposition to God’s will. Peter represents the natural reaction of all people to suffering and failure. Jesus’ instruction stresses the role of service. Jesus goes on telling the disciples that the one who follows him also likewise suffer so that God can raise him up. 

27. Mt. 17: 14-21

Mt. 17: 14-21: Powerful and deep trust in God is never without public effect. The complete trust the epileptic’s father to cry out ‘Kyrie Eleison’ made Jesus to call for deep hearted faith. The faith that can move mountains is not an intellectual ascent but deep, secure and abiding Trust in God. 

26. Mt. 9: 35-38

Mt. 9: 35-38: Having a feeling of compassion for the ‘sheep who have no shepherd Jesus struggles through with his healing and teaching ministries in ‘towns, villages, and in their synagogues’. Such struggles to find God in lives can be termed as ‘dark night of the soul’ and ‘spiritual aridity’. If we pursue such times to their conclusion, we can emerge from them with deeper and cleaner insight. What we learn through our struggles with darkness can help others to see light. It can be our way of bringing in the harvest. 

25. Mt. 15: 1-9

Mt. 15: 1-9: The tradition of the elders is not the law. Jesus respected and followed the law ie the ‘Thora’ but Jesus often spoke against some of its interpretation of the law by the Rubies. The disciples disobeyed an unimportant interpreted law but Jesus accused the Jews that they disobey the very important Law of Moses. 

24. Mt. 11: 11-19

Mt. 11: 11-19: God can send his messengers but man refused to recognize them. This he state by observing John the Baptist who according to Jesus is the herald and fore runner whom they have waited to see but were rejected by the Jews. We are aloes advised to stop judging people and churches by our own prejudices and perversities. 

23. Mt. 21: 18-22

Mt. 21: 18-22: The fig tree symbolizes the people of Israel and grew with plenty of leaves. They were nurtured and cared by God. The fig tree in the passage was there tempting the passerby…. God’s care could be seen but no fruit found. The Israelites were proud of their origin like that of the fig tree but they were not doing acts of fruition as wanted by God. So Jesus by cursing the tree was using a prophetic method to the give the message to the disciples that likewise this fig tree…. Be cursed if not fruit were seen.

22. Mt. 10: 26-33

Mt. 10: 26-33:  If we lose God, we lose that which alone can give meaning and joy to our lives.  Jesus exhorts his disciples in his missionary preaching that what they hear from him must be preached without fear. Material loss is to be preferred to spiritual loss. Our relationship with God the Father is mediated through him. God’s attitude towards us will correspond to our attitude toward Jesus. Our acknowledgement or rejection of Jesus will be the norm for our own acknowledgment or rejection by God.

21. Mt. 9: 9-13

Mt. 9: 9-13: From Abraham to Pharisees we find the Jews making themselves righteous on their terms to approach God. Jesus in the New Testament corrects them by going directly to out castes – tax collectors and prostitutes. Jesus is the new Israel who now reaches out all people to join them into a family linked not by genes but by faith in God. Thus they approach God to become righteous. So Jesus wants us to call God our Father so that we live a life in His terms. 

20. Mt 4: 12-17

Mt 4: 12-17: Nothing happens to Jesus that is not provisioned by God. If Bethlehem is the place of his birth (2:6), Nazareth is the place of his upbringing (2:23) and Capernaum is his place of Mission (4:15f). The definitive salvation is announced by Jesus comes to us by a change of heart - a conversion to a new life-style based on God’s love and working of Spirit within us. 

19. Lk. 15: 1-7

Lk. 15: 1-7: Jews regarded the tax collectors as sinners and thereby ‘untouchables’. Jesus does not write off them as outcasts but wants them to be saved. The God proclaimed by Jesus is not the ‘just judge’ of the pharasees who rewards and punishes strictly according to our action, but the loving father (Lk 15: 11-31) who forgives us even before we have sinned. We do not need to earn God’s forgiveness but need to turn to god and accept it. 

18. Lk 4: 31-37

Lk 4: 31-37: The narrative brings out the power of Jesus’ word which is supported by the effectiveness of his actions. Through his preaching, exorcisms and healing, Jesus makes God’s kingdom real among the people. In this gospel passage a man possessed by an evil spirit shouts and acknowledge the power of Jesus. 

17. Mt. 25: 31-40

Mt. 25: 31-40: In the last judgment setting Mathew summarizes Jesus’ teaching. The purpose of this passage is to tell us what we must do in order to be saved. It is also a parable of separation into the good ones and to the bad ones. 

16. Mt. 24: 29-36

Mt. 24: 29-36: These two possibilities of the second coming of Jesus contradict each other. The first speaks that we can know the signs of the second coming of Jesus just like we know the coming of summer by looking at the figs and its sprouting of new leaves. The second possibility is that no one knows – not even the angels, the son of God but it is known only by God the Father. A total submission by us is needed before the son of God comes. 

15. Mt. 23: 29-36

Mt. 23: 29-36: The history of Jews was history of murder from Abel to Zacharias. It is a history of rejection and often the slaughter of the men of God. It makes us think when the history judges us, will its verdict be that we were the hinderers or the helpers of God! It is a question that every individual, nation must ask themselves.

14. Lk. 24: 13-35

Lk. 24: 13-35: It is in this journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus the two disciples find Jesus. It brought them back to the track with to a new reading of the scriptures – to the breaking of the word and breaking of the bread (Eucharist) that they became true missionaries who went to all corners of the world starting from Jerusalem. The incident teaches us that we must find Jesus by breaking of the word and of the bread so that we become missionaries for Him.

13. Mt. 13: 24-30

Mt. 13: 24-30: The passage teaches us that there is a hostile power that works against all that is good. Often this power cannot be distinguished in the beginning or we should not indulge in hasty judgments. We are told to accept them as in the field – a mixture of good and evil (wheat and weeds) as a whole. The one who is perfect –‘God’ himself has the power to judge correctly at the end of the world –at the maturity of time.

12. Mt. 8: 5-13

Mt. 8: 5-13: The Jews are the chosen people of God but since they reject Jesus they forfeit their right to the gentiles - ‘from east and the west’ as in 8:11 who have accepted Jesus. This warning may be applied today to the new ‘sons of the kingdom’ – the Christians, who belong to the church but who may be in practice far less ‘Christ-like’ in their attitude and behavior than the people of other religions. 

11. Lk. 13: 6-9

Lk. 13: 6-9: Just as the fig tree is given a final chance, a period of grace, to bear fruit, so people are given time to repent and reform. There is no space for self-complacency. Spiritual collapse is more death-dealing then physical death because its implications are eternal. We can direct ourselves to God or to sin. In either case we are responsible for what we will have become. 

10. Mk. 8: 11-21:

Mk. 8: 11-21: The Pharisees want a miracle that will undoubtedly prove that Jesus do the work of God. Jesus refuses. People who love truth and seek what is right will recognize the seal of God in the deeds of Jesus. But Jesus will have to give a sign – his resurrection. So people, who demand a miracle before they believe, receive no answer. 

9. Mt. 7: 1-6:

Mt. 7: 1-6: We are forbidden to condemn people because good or evil is a matter not of external behavior but of the intention of the heart which only God can see (Mt. 5: 21-48) and since all of us are sinners, none of us has the right to condemn, for it makes us unease with ourselves. We discuss the teachings of Jesus among those who can understand the subtlety of what is being expressed.

8. Mt. 1: 1-16:

Mt. 1: 1-16: While giving the genealogy of Joseph, the last verse shifts to focus on Mother Mary and the birth of Jesus. The shift to focus on Mary is with a purpose to show that she is chosen by God Himself to be the mother of God. Thus royalty of kingship gained, the tragedy of freedom lost, the glory of liberty restored. It is the mercy of God that is the story of mankind and of each individual man.

7. Mt. 19: 27-30:

Mt. 19: 27-30: He who stands with Christ in his suffering, will surely rise with him in eternity. A Christian will receive far more than ever he has to give up – a divine human fellowship. God’s standards of judgments are not men’s. The new world he enters into will be a surprise for him. There is eternity to adjust the misjudgments off time. 

6. Mt. 13: 1-9, 18-23:

Mt. 13: 1-9, 18-23: The seed grows where there is openness to the Word (FAITH), trust in its power (HOPE) and a readiness to go out of oneself (LOVE). Seeds fell on footpath are the disinterested people with their own interest clashing. The superficial ones receive the seed of faith like that fell on rocky grounds and soon discouraged and burnt and dry away. Those sown among thorns are believers but the fruits to be harvested along the difficult path seem not to satisfy them.

5. Mt. 25: 31-40

Mt. 25: 31-40 The purpose of the passage is to tell us what we must do in order to be saved. The passage is as much a parable of separation (the sheep and the goats) like the wheat and the weeds in 13: 24-30 or the net and the fish in 13: 47-50. It is also a description of judgment. 

4. Lk 12: 54-59:

Lk 12: 54-59: People knew to read the signs of nature. So the signs which are seen around Jesus are enough for the sincere ones to understand that now is the time announced by the prophets to be converted and Israel must acknowledge it savior. The urgency of conversion for Jesus must be done before it is too late with a reconciliation between brothers and sisters because we are in our way to God’s judgment so that we can take advantage of the right situation we are then, if we are in the above said positions. 

3. Lk. 17: 20-37

Lk. 17: 20-37: The final coming of the kingdom of heaven is something men can never calculate or make research upon. Jesus says that in one sense the kingdom has already come. It is at work in people who have received the Good News of Jesus. False prophets will bring confusion in the minds of some people. The end of the world comes suddenly for which the believers are told to prepare and wait. 

2. Lk 12: 41-48:

Lk 12: 41-48: One must be alert towards the time of meeting of our Lord Jesus. To explain this point Jesus gives the example of faithful and unfaithful or wise and unwise steward. The unwise one makes two mistakes in his attitude. He says to himself “I will do what I like while my master is away”. Thus he forgets the day of reckoning. Then he says “I have plenty of time to put things right before the master comes”. Thus he digs his own pit by postponing everything for tomorrow. Sin is doubly sinful to the man who knew better and failure is doubly blame worthy in the man who had every chance to do well.  

1. Lk 9: 23-27

Lk 9: 23-27: If Peter’s profession of Jesus is the truth but not the whole truth. To grasp the full meaning of Jesus’ definition of his identity, it is to have vast consequences for the lives of his disciples. We cannot take Christ without the cross; it will lead one to delusion. Nor can we take the cross without Christ, this leads to despair.