30. Mk. 5: 21-24 & 35-43

Mk. 5: 21-24 & 35-43: Jairus wanted a physical contact with Jesus-but Jesus looked beneath the surface touch to the deeper contact of faith. Through faith we make contact with Jesus. We can contact the same Jesus and be healed by the same saving power through faith and the sacramental liturgical life of the church. 

29. Jn 21: 15-19

Jn 21: 15-19: Jesus reveals himself as the supreme shepherd because he loves his people and that he appoint a shepherd to look after his flock. The basis of his shepherd is love. So he confirms that love from St. Peter of his love for him. As he affirms his love for him, Peter becomes the new shepherd of his flock, when Jesus is absent from them physically.

28. Mt. 14: 22-33

Mt. 14: 22-33: ‘Walking on water’ is considered a divine act from Old Testament times. The disciples failed to understand the significance of this divine act even after ‘the multiplication of bread’. Only the final acts – the cross and the resurrection of Jesus could invoke some understanding in the minds of his disciples. Thereafter all deeds of Jesus were understood by the disciples probably with the help of the Holy Spirit. 

27. Lk 10: 38-42

Lk 10: 38-42: Two sisters respond differently but authentically to the Lord. Martha is busy serving and Mary listens to the Word. Jesus approves what Mary has done. We all develop spiritual and sacred shorthand by which we standardize our efforts and responses to events. Such an approach is much easier in a busy world that seeking out the uniqueness of individuals that come our way. Mary reminds us to make time to examine the special features of our family, Social and professional loves. Each situation caries its own individual potential for grace and life.

26. Mk 5: 25-34

Mk 5: 25-34: Jesus manifests his lordship over life and death, which no doubt is another sign of his kingdom. A missionary is asked to support life enhancing programmes of health, environment, housing, food production, clean water and so on. The Jews regarded this woman ‘unclean’ but for Jesus, she is the owner of immense faith and dares to defy all Jewish regulations. 

25. Lk 6: 27-36

Lk 6: 27-36:  Love your enemies in v.27 apply first to his persecutors of Christians in his communities. Jesus doesn’t ask for a mere tolerance but active love. More specifically the above verse 27 applies to the possessors of his community. They are neither to show a mere reciprocity nor to calculate in their giving. In any society, the rich, the middle class, the poor and the poorest need conversion to Jesus’ words though in different degrees, manners and terms.

24. Lk. 2: 41-51

Lk. 2: 41-51: ‘He went home and he was obedient to them’. The fact that he was God’s Son made him the perfect Son of his human parents. The real man of God does not despise earthly ties; just because he is God’s man, he discharges human duties with supreme fidelity.

23. Jn. 19: 30-37

Jn. 19: 30-37: Water that flowed from the side of Christ stands for the powerful new life as well as the spirit. Blood expresses the saving power of Jesus’ death. The salvific power is displayed in these symbols of blood and water.

22. Lk 8: 4-15

Lk 8: 4-15: Luke wishes to impress the Christians that they must be fervent and ‘active’ hearers of the word (v. 8:8). So whatever worries, pleasures, discomforts that they may tend to strangle the growth of faith in the word, they should persevere with open and responsive minds and hearts. The parable of the sower is meant to elicits from the hearers to be active. 

21. Jn. 4: 39-42

Jn. 4: 39-42:  The Samaritans were introduced to Christ by the woman. The word of God must be transmitted by man to man. We also find in Samaritans a nearer intimacy and growing knowledge of Christ. Soon their growth in knowledge in Jesus came to discovery and they surrendered to Christ as the savior of the world. What they found in Jesus, John writes later in 1 John 4: 14 and gives Jesus this title ‘par excellence’

20. Mt. 18: 6-9

Mt. 18: 6-9: Sometimes, it is an individual who leads others to sin at other times it is society itself with its corruption, violence and unjust social structures. Jesus invites us to be aware of sin personal and social. There will be evil in this world, but we must make sure that we do not contribute to it or let it flourish through our inactivity. 

19. Jn. 6: 30-36

Jn. 6: 30-36: It was God who gave manna to the people; of Israel in the wilderness. It was only symbolic of bread of life. The real bread from heaven is to be found in the one who came from heaven, i.e. Christ himself. In him we find not only satisfaction from physical hunger, but life also. Jesus was claiming that the only real satisfaction was in him.  

18. Lk. 10: 25-37

Lk. 10: 25-37: The Jewish conception of a neighbor originates from ‘flesh’ and ‘blood’.  Jesus corrects this by establishing that the neighbor is the one who is close to any brother or sister in need. Loving the neighbor must not be only in the thought but also in deed as we see in this parable of Good Samaritan. 

17. Jn. 6: 1-15

Jn. 6: 1-15: Jesus needs what we can bring to him. It may not be much but he needs it. If we would lay ourselves on the altar of service, there is no saying what we could do with us and through us. We may be sorry and embarrassed that we have not more to bring, it is no reason to fail to bring. Little is always more in the hands of Jesus. 

16. Jn. 6: 45-50

Jn. 6: 45-50: Jesus is the bread of life. Bread is very essential for life. Those who refuse to Jesus are those who miss life in this world and in the world to come. Those who accept Jesus will find this life worth and glorify God in the world to come. 

15. Jn. 6: 51-59

Jn. 6: 51-59: In a general sense Jesus speaks of eating his flesh and drinking his blood. The flesh of Jesus means his complete humanity. In Jewish concept blood means ‘Life’. So it means that we should have the humanity and life of Jesus. John meant more that this general sense. He was saying if you want life, you must come and sit at that table where you eat that broken bread and drink that poured-out wine which somehow, in the grace of God brings you into contact with the Lord and life of Jesus Christ. 

14. Jn. 6: 37-44

Jn. 6: 37-44: Life in Jesus is life in time and life in eternity. In him we find new satisfaction. The hunger and thirst are gone in him. The human heart finds what is was searching for and life ceases to be mere existence and becomes a thrill and peace and even beyond life we are safe in him.

13. Jn. 6: 64-71

Jn. 6: 64-71: Peter has a personal relationship with Jesus though he did not understand many things he spoke. So Christianity is not a philosophy we accept, nor a theory to which we give allegiance but a personal response to Jesus. It is this personal allegiance and love one is motivated to surrender his heart, mind and soul to Christ. 

12. Jn. 11: 17-27

Jn. 11: 17-27: When one believes in Jesus, he or she is freed from the fear of godless life; from the frustration of sin-ridden life; from the futility of Christless life. Life is raised from sin’s death and becomes so rich that it cannot die but must find in death only the transition to a higher life.

11. Lk. 7: 36-50

Lk. 7: 36-50: Simeon’s reception of Jesus was without any love in his heart. But the sinful woman’s was a service of love by washing his feet with pure nard oil while Simeon did not even wash his feet. Jesus loves sinners, outcasts which Simeon criticizes. It is love that forgives sin and when sins are forgiven that love grows. Jesus teaches all those assembled there this great lesson. He also teaches us that the real knowledge is to recognize that we are sinners. God’s love follow us to redeem us. 

10. Jn. 6: 25-29

Jn. 6: 25-29: Jesus is sealed by God, he is God’s truth incarnate and God alone can truly satisfy the eternal hunger of the soul which he created. For this Jesus offers us a relationship of service, purity and trust in God. When we do that, Jesus satisfies us from our eternal thirst and hunger. 

9. Mt. 5: 13-20

Mt. 5: 13-20:  Jesus gives three missionary images to explain the role of these who follow him. They are to be salt, light and a city built on a hill. This means that they are to be a grout of peoples who will be highly visible because of the unusually dedicated character of the lives, who will illuminate the world as light does, and who sanctify, purify and preserve the world in its relationship of God lie salt. 

8. Mt. 25: 31-40

1    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.

7. Mt. 13: 31-35

Mt. 13: 31-35:  Small beginnings lead to mighty end. The parable of the ‘Yeast’ also brings out the same message. With the added insight or faith, Christianity spreads as it were by infection from persons caught up by the new experience of God and who communicate it spontaneously to others. Thus the end result is big enough to be seen.  

6. Mt. 20: 29-34

Mt. 20: 29-34: Many people get material and spiritual benefits from God through Jesus, but forget to say thanks to him. Ingratitude is the ugliest sin of all. Here we find these two blind men after receiving sight give due loyalty to him. We can never repay God for what he has done for us but we can be grateful to him.

5. Mt. 11: 25-30

Mt. 11: 25-30:  It is the Christian conviction that in Jesus Christ alone we see what God is like and Jesus can give that knowledge to anyone who is humble enough and trustful enough to receive it. Jesus is compassionate to those people trying to find God to be good and doing so, driven to weariness and despair.

4. Jn. 16: 5-15

Jn. 16: 5-15:  Holy Spirit gives freedom and sanctifies our souls. Moses received the message of freedom in the presence of fire that doesn’t consume the plant on mount Horeb (Ex. 3:2; 9-10). The pillar of fire travelled at night in front of the Israelites (Ex. 13:21). It is the tongues of fire (Holy Spirit) that guided and inspired the disciples. Fire has always been symbolical to the Holy Spirit both in OT and NT. The Holy Spirit is seen empowering the disciples in the Gospels. Holy Spirit teaches about sin, justice and last judgment as found in the Gospel of today.

3. Mt. 18: 23-35

Mt. 18: 23-35: Readiness to forgive those who injured us is demanded for a Christian living. Jesus not only urges us to forgive without limit (v.21-22) but shows us how our forgiveness is always related to God’s forgiveness (v.23-34).

2. Mt. 24: 7-14

Mt. 24: 7-14: A true missionary and disciple of Jesus will be hated by the people, will be handed over for suffering by the people and Jesus says that the one who endures till the end will be saved. It is not about the time of suffering that Jesus speaks about but the fullness of suffering.

1. Lk. 14: 25-35

Lk. 14: 25-35:  The man who follows him should not be on the way to worldly power and glory, but must be ready for loyalty which would sacrifice the dearest things in life and for a suffering which would be like the agony of a man upon a cross. It is the Christian way to salvation. But he won’t be alone. He who called him to the steep road will walk with him every step of the way and be there at the end to meet him.