20. 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.

19. 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

18. 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

17. Mt. 5: 43-48

   Mt. 5: 43-48: The antitheses of the Sermon on the Mount reach their climax in the last one dealing with the scope of our love. “You must be perfect”(v.48) which means  that God loves his people with a mind of universality and single-mindedness. God loves all of us and each one of us totally.

16. 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

15. 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

14. Lk. 24: 13-27

Lk. 24: 13-27: Every ‘breaking of the word’ leads one finally to the Eucharist ie. ‘Breaking of the bread’ where one finds and acknowledges Jesus, as we see in the journey of two disciples to Emmaus. This is the way every Christian to discover Jesus, who is the way to life. They go away from Jerusalem. Jesus meets them on their way and puts them back on track

13. Lk. 21: 34-36

Lk. 21: 34-36: Jesus stresses the need to be upon the watch. A Christian should not think that he lives in a world, which is settled in situations but rather he must think that he lives in a permanent state of expectations. He must live in the shadow of eternity, in the certainty that he is fitting or unfitting himself to appear in the presence of God. So the Christian life must be a thrilling one

12. Lk. 21: 25-33

Lk. 21: 25-33: Jesus speaks about his second coming. We are advised not to have argument about it as to when it comes and what it would be like. Our conception of history must be that it is moving towards a goal – a goal in which Jesus will be recognized by all as LORD. That is all we know and all we need to know. He uses the parable of the fig tree to know this principle

11. 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 not to show a mere reciprocity but to be uncalculating 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

9. 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

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. 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

5. 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

4. Jn. 16: 20-24

Jn. 16: 20-24: The world’s careless joy will turn to sorrow; and the christian’s apparent sorrow will change into joy. Faith is the foundation of this joy. It will never be taken away and it will be complete. So in Christian joy the pain which went before is forgotten.

3. 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.

2. 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.

1. Mt 13: 44-51

Mt 13: 44-51: If we really understand the worth of the kingdom, we shall do this with great joy because we are aware that what we are getting (the treasure, the pearl) is what our deepest self really wants and is worth far more than anything we can give up for it. The parable of the net tells us about the scandals existing in the church and one should not tolerate them passively. The separation is needed and is permanent for the kingdom and will become definitive on that very day because love is the law of the kingdom of heaven.

31. 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

30. 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

29. Mk 10: 35-45

Mk 10: 35-45: The disciples were not a company of saints. They were ordinary men set out by Jesus to change the world. They were ambitious having failed to understand Jesus, his mission and the purpose of his coming. In them we find the amazing confidence and the amazing loyalty in Jesus. Jesus raised these ordinary men to change the world as apostles and his ambassadors of the Divine plan – the will of God to which Jesus submitted himself to

28. 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.

27. Lk 12: 35-40

Lk 12: 35-40: The message of preparedness is presented in a parabolic language here. The disciples are asked to wide awake to God’s gift and to the demands of God’s kingdom. One should be open to truth. It is not enough just not to avoid evil but to promote goodness

26. Lk. 18: 35-43

Lk. 18: 35-43: The cure of the blind man speaks not only of restoration of the physical sight but the gradual emergence of spiritual sight among the disciples. While the disciples saw what is happening in the outside world and so told the blind man to keep quiet, the blind man has an inner focused need to be rectified i.e. to regain sight. So he shouts for Jesus!

25. Mk. 2: 13-17

Mk. 2: 13-17: Jesus dines with tax collectors. The association with public sinners of which Levi the tax collector included could make one ritually unclean in these time. Jesus cracks open the status quo as he draws people into the kingdom by cleaning, healing them. Now the power to forgive which moves among us is the power of Jesus. He is the Messiah-our abiding agent of reconciliation and the source of liturgical power.

24. Lk 6: 12-19

Lk 6: 12-19: The 12 disciples including St. Bartholomew were called by Jesus to be with him as friends and messengers. They were called from the 72 disciples to become apostles to be sent out as ambassadors of Christ.  They were very ordinary men with strange mixture –hot tempered, zealots, tax collectors, fisherman with their own emotional attitudes. All of them found themselves peaceful co-existence in the company of Jesus. 

23. Mt 13: 10-17

Mt 13: 10-17: Jesus makes every parable a challenge. Every parable makes one to decide after understanding his or her situation in life in the context of the parable told. Confronted by God’s love erupting into our life, we are forced to decide. We either accept God’s love or reject it. Many Jews chose the latter. 

22. Mk 5: 1-13

     Mk 5: 1-13: A man, who was possessed with evil spirits, was cured by Jesus. The demon enjoyed a routine way of life in the man who was living among the tombs of the dead. Jesus comes there to disturb that routine. Life went peacefully on till there arrived ‘this disturbing’ Jesus. They complained to Jesus; they hated him. More people hate Jesus because he disturbs them of their wrong doings. They don’t accept Jesus by saying “Go away and let us be in peace.” Those who come out from their routine life serve the church but Jesus says they must start from their home.

21. Lk. 14: 1-6

  Lk. 14: 1-6: The Jews were corrupted by the interpretation and practice of the Sabbath laws. To them comes Jesus active. He revives them by giving new meaning for the Sabbath laws. He proves that ‘Sabbath is for the good of man and not man for the Sabbath’(Mk 2: 27).  

19.. Lk 18: 1-8

Lk 18: 1-8: If the persistent plea of a helpless widow gets through to an unjust, how much more effective will it be with God? Jesus the son of God will surely come however long – delayed his coming may seem towards the groaning under persecution of Christians living in difficult times. So the Christian should never cease praying and pleading for redemptive justice inspired by faith in Jesus.

17. Jn 15: 18-25

Jn 15: 18-25: If love is the essential nature of the disciple of Christ, hatred is of the world and it’s ruler the Satan. When a person begins to live a more responsible and committed life he or she meets with opposition and hatred from the other. This is the beginning of persecution of the Christians or Christ’s followers who is committed to Christ and his word. Jesus makes his disciples of this incoming persecution and must be prepared to suffer like that he suffered in this Gospel passage.

16. Mt 12: 46-50

Mt 12: 46-50: Passage through the red sea inaugurated the beginning of the people of God. Our baptism is also the beginning of a process of our maturing in the Lord. The truly significant bonds that join people are not biological but spiritual: the shared experiences of school, seminary, political campaigns, joy, sorrow and deliverance. Jesus tells us that those who listen to and keep his word are his brothers and sisters in a new family that knit together by the Holy Spirit. We all have experienced deliverance through baptism.

15. Jn 2: 1-12

Jn 2: 1-12: Independence or Liberty is the celebration of the spirit. If the spirit cannot celebrate due to a physical bondage or the absence of a physical need, how can there be true independence? Bl.V. Mary did the same. She helped the host family at Cana to have good wine in abundance by a miracle by her son Jesus. She freed the spirits of the people there. She gave importance to the spirit than her physic. So she also indicated to the true freedom by her Assumption to heaven or her son showed humanity the true freedom by his mother’s assumption.

14. Mt. 9: 18-26

Mt. 9: 18-26: The ruler of the synagogue and the woman with hemorrhage came to Jesus with insufficient faith. The former came out of desperation and the latter with a superstition. Both were granted the favours they asked for or desired in their hearts. Jesus makes the event holy and memorable and inadequacy of our faith is made wholly.

13. Lk 6: 43-45

Lk 6: 43-45: A man cannot be judged in any other way than by his deeds. Teaching and preaching are both ‘truth through personality’. Fine words will never take the place of fine deeds. The modern secular movements can never be defeated by mere words, writing and so on than proving that Christianity produce better man and woman.

12. Lk. 17: 11-19

Lk. 17: 11-19: 10 lepers were healed  but only one who came back to thank God, was told “ your faith has saved you” while the 9 Jews who were healed responded to the legal requirements, the latter was the one who happened to be a non-Jew responded straight from his heart. Among the many people asking God for healing and favours, how many will come to that saving faith which is a new relationship to God through Jesus?

11. Mk. 13: 3-13

Mk. 13: 3-13: people, confused are easily fooled by propaganda and ideologies. Fear makes them blind and they persecute those who do not share their fanaticism. That is why they hate the true believers. Jesus asks his followers to bear witness to him as the only savior and proclaim what the Gospel demands of the individual and of society.

10. Mt. 10: 16-25

Mt. 10: 16-25: Jesus warned his disciples that the days to come they might well find the state, the church and family conjoined against them. Christianity preaches a view of man which no totalitarian state can accept. Christianity aims to obliterate certain trades, and professions and way of making money- it still does – and church can never closes her eyes towards the malpractices of the state, church and family members.  So is a Christian liable for persecution.

9. Mk 10: 35-45

Mk 10: 35-45: The disciples were not a company of saints. They were ordinary men set out by Jesus to change the world. They were ambitious having failed to understand Jesus, his mission and the purpose of his coming. In them we find the amazing confidence and the amazing loyalty in Jesus. Jesus raised these ordinary men to change the world as apostles and his ambassadors of the Divine plan – the will of God to which Jesus submitted himself to.

8. Mt. 7: 15-20

Mt. 7: 15-20: Teaching people in a brilliant way, working miracles are gifts though good for the community does not guarantee that one is pleasing to God. True faith activated by love is the real key for the kingdom of heaven. To explain this message Jesus uses the parable of grapes and its fruits. The true disciples are those who produce fruits of love.

7. Jn. 4: 27-38

Jn. 4: 27-38: The desire to tell others of the Samaritan women’s discovery about Jesus killed in her the feeling of shame –a shame of being an outcast and now being cured by Jesus her intimate sinful status, made her to discover Jesus as the Messiah and she ran to tell her neighbors and the people of her village whom she was avoiding till now. Once she is cured from her inner self, she is free to share Jesus to them. She understood to do the will of God and for her that was the only way to happiness.

6. Mt. 17: 1-9

Mt. 17: 1-9: Mountain has been the traditional place of divine revelations from Old Testament times. Peter representing us answered as to who Jesus was and now it is the Father who gives us the answer. Jesus is the Beloved Son; the Eternal Love of the Father can only be satisfied by the Son who shares as his own Divinity. Jesus is the chosen one, the savior announced by the prophets of old. He ‘makes man fully manifest to himself and brings to light his exalted vocation’ (CCC 1701)

5. Lk. 16: 19-31

Lk. 16: 19-31: The wall the rich man makes willingly in this life becomes after his death, an abyss which no one will be able to bridge. The one who accepts this separation will find himself on the other side forever. So Jesus asks us to work with a view to remove the abyss which separates them in this life by this parable.

4. Mt. 9: 35- 10: 1

Mt. 9: 35- 10: 1: What we learn through our struggles with darkness can help others to see light. It can be our way of bringing in the harvest. We all struggle to find God in our life. If we pursue in the ‘dark night of the soul’ or ‘spiritual aridity’ to the conclusion, we can emerge from them with deeper and clearer sight.

3. Mt. 22: 34-40

Mt. 22: 34-40: The striking point in today’s Gospel is not that Jesus commanded to love our God and our neighbor but that he joined them as two sides of the same coin. It is not artificially connected. If a person really loves his or her neighbor, such a person loves God at the same instant

2. Lk. 12: 49-53

Lk. 12: 49-53: The zeal that Jesus enkindle in one, will spotlight sin and the one turns away from it will gradually create reaction and generate conflict and strife in the other who are servants of sin. It is the kind of reactive strife that one is faced with and that in turn create division - people for Christ and against him.

1. Mt. 9: 35 - 10: 1

    Mt. 9: 35 - 10: 1: As Christians, we are invited to heal and cure the world, its many sicknesses, physical, psychological, social and ecological through our effective concern for our wounded planet. This requires a personal transformation which ultimately the gift of God’s spirit.

31. Mk. 13: 24-31

Mk. 13: 24-31: Prophesying the end of the Jewish world Jesus comes to the end of the world, which would be sudden with confusion and a surprise for the people. But the end of the world would bring its transformation too. 

30. Lk 18: 25-30

Lk 18: 25-30: The whole tendency of possession is to shackle a man’s thoughts to this world. He has so big a stake in it that he never wants to leave it, and never things of anything else. It is not a sin to have much wealth-but it is a danger to the soul and a great responsibility. So one must struggle as ‘a camel going through the eye of a needle’. This struggle of one to enter the kingdom is an important message in this season of Kaitha.

29. Mk. 7: 1-13

Mk. 7: 1-13: Religion to Pharisees became an instrument of self-deception and neurosis. Jesus restores the commanding vision of Genesis where life is a gift from God to be reverenced and celebrated. Religious traditions must make life coherent and insert us into a wide community of faith and meaning.

28. Jn 12: 20-26

Jn 12: 20-26: Jesus will die and the universal church will be born. Jesus allows his lifeless body to be laid in the earth; on rising from the tomb, his same body, now glorified, will also embrace the believers united to him. The life that is now his will be communicated to all the children of God. St. Alphonsa understood and lived according to what Jesus preached and practiced.

27. Mk. 8: 22-26

Mk. 8: 22-26: Unlike all other miracles of Jesus which happened suddenly and completely, this miracle happens in stages. It is gloriously true that sudden conversion is a gracious possibility, but it is equally true that everyday a man should be re-converted. With all God’s grace and glory before him he can go on learning for a life time and still need eternity to know as he is known.

26. Mt. 10: 5-15

Mt. 10: 5-15: Love and fidelity are the norm of matrimony for husband and wife. There is no other way as indicated here. Husband and wife are not two but “they shall be one body” (Genesis 2:24) Jesus says the same in 10:8. Thus their conjugal union binds them in an indestructible bond.

25. Mt. 20: 20-28

Mt. 20: 20-28: Jesus tries to convince his followers that success in his kingdom does not consist in prestige and power, but in following the way of Jesus, their leader. Jesus came to serve and his service to humanity will be his voluntary death. He made himself obedient, took the condition of a slave and died on the cross (Phil 2:8). ‘To drink the cup’ and ‘to be baptized’ are figurative ways of describing the suffering and death of Jesus.

24. Lk. 4: 25-30

     Lk. 4: 25-30: Jesus opposes the idea and belief of the jews that all misery and suffering is that of the sinners. Jesus shows mercy to the oppressed and people of suffering. So the reference of Elijah and Elisha coming to help the poor, needy and oppressed, angered the Jews.

23. Mt. 23: 34-39

1      Mt. 23: 34-39: God wanted to protect, love and care the people of Jerusalem. But they refused the prophets, Christ and first Christians who came in the name of God and spoke His Word. But they were killed and rejected. Destruction of Jerusalem was a punishment of its crimes. God’s plan and way cannot be objected, blocked by any one.

22. Jn. 9: 1-12, 35-38

Jn. 9: 1-12, 35-38:  The incident speaks about Jesus as the light for the blind eyes. Now is the time for the work to be done, decisions to be taken and appropriate steps to be initiated. Jesus is still doing things which seem to the unbelievers far too good and far too wonderful to be true.

21. Lk 14: 15-24

Lk 14: 15-24: The parable speaks about an eschatological final gathering into God’s community of salvation. For this heavenly banquet which will take place at the end of time, Jesus sends out the invitations. The time to respond is now! Those who are invited (in the parable the cream layer of the Jewish people) seem to have rejected the invitation on the false pretexts their own concerns. The second invitation to the Jewish people who are poor, crippled, outcasts and the marginalized and the third invitation to the gentiles indicate the togetherness of a wider community of God.

20. Jn. 20: 19-29

Jn. 20: 19-29: The disciples are seen bundling in a secret place for fear of Jews. The ‘Jews’ here means the hostile powers that work against Jesus. To these fearful disciples Jesus brings transformation, leading the disciples from the darkness of fear, unbelief and distress into the lights of peace, joy of the risen Lord and the Spirit. He breathes on them as if he is making them of a new creation, new humanity from the fearful apostles. Jesus does so again and again even today. 

19. Mk. 11: 12-14, 20-26

Mk. 11: 12-14, 20-26: The fig tree is full of leaves but no fruits seen. The superficial and deceptive aspects of life are seen but when the fruits of prayer and piety are absent in one, Jesus condemns one such a person and withers like this fig tree. Jesus draws the attention of this kind of dangerous life of a person.

18. Jn. 12: 23-28

Jn. 12: 23-28: Unless the grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies (v.24) speaks about the universal law for all life that will be fruitful. The seed that is stored in barns doesn’t produce life and fruitful. It is by scattering into the earth that the seed produces its fruits. The first believers were already saying: “the blood of the martyrs is a seed”.

17. Lk 6: 20-26

Lk 6: 20-26: ‘If you set your heart and bend your whole energies to obtain the things which the world values, you will get them –but that is all you will ever get’. But on the other hand if you set your heart and bend all your energies to be utterly loyal to God and true to Christ, you will run into all kinds of trouble; you may be according to the worldly standards look unhappy, but much of your payment is still to come; and it will be joy eternal.

16. Mt 7: 21-28

Mt 7: 21-28: whenever we teach or work miracles, these abilities and ministries given us for the good of the community do not assure us that we are in the grace of God. It is not enough that we know Jesus but it is important that Jesus knows us-which makes us eligible and worthy of his grace. For4 that we must do true faith works through love (Gal 5:6) and moves us to fulfill all love (James 2: 8)

15. Lk. 15: 11-32

Lk. 15: 11-32:  The parable of the ‘Lost Son’ gives us the message that in the outgoing and forgiving love of his ‘father’, the wayward son recaptures his true position as ‘son’. The parable requests us to recognize the open-hearted, forgiving love of God to all people, even the least; to recognize the ‘lost’ as God’s children just as we are.

14. Mk. 2: 1-12:

Mk. 2: 1-12:  Jesus’ word of forgiveness is as effective as his word of healing. He shows that he can with authority act for God. In Jesus the grace filled nearness of God’s kingdom makes itself felt. The church continues this ministry of forgiveness (CCC 1421) in the sacrament of reconciliation.

13. Lk. 12: 4-12

Lk. 12: 4-12: The attitude to life is fearlessness. Man’s power over man is strictly limited to this life only. The soul cannot be destroyed by any man. God’s power can blot out a man’s very soul. So God only is to be feared. At the same time to God we are never lost in the crowed. We are taken care of by the Holy Spirit, who leads one to repentance.  If we have lost the seed of repentance over sin then we are far away from Him

12. Jn. 8: 48-59

Jn. 8: 48-59: In time Jesus saw nothing but pain, dishonor and rejection. In eternity he saw only the glory which he who is obedient to God will someday receive. Jesus had the supreme optimism born of supreme faith, the optimism which is rooted in God. In Jesus alone we see what God wants us to know and what God wants us to be. In Jesus the eternal God shared himself to men.

11. Jn. 10: 22-28

Jn. 10: 22-28: Jesus promised to those who accepted him of eternal life, a life that would know no end and a life that was secure even in a world crashing to disaster. They would know the serenity of God. It is both an invitation and a promise.

6. Mt. 10: 37-42

Mt. 10: 37-42:  The dependency to the family members hampers the spiritual and human growth. It is not that we must not love our families and be concerned about them. This is a duty which Jesus insists upon in 15: 4-7. But we are to avoid excessive attachments or inordinate affections which restrict our freedom to do God’s work. His belonging to the Family of God is primary. 

5. Mt. 23: 13-22

Mt. 23: 13-22: The word ‘hypocrite’ not only means to appear to be what one is not but also it refers to the one who makes light of the things of God and who causes loss of respect for them. These teachers close the path to true knowledge of God the Father, and bar the way to freedom and confidence which is proper to the children of God.  

4. Lk. 16: 9-17

Lk. 16: 9-17: We should use our things to enhance our friendships and not to use our friendship to enhance the number of things we have. Each of us has a god we serve. The question centers upon, which will attract our devotion. Spiritual bonds endure over time. Things can be lost or rotten.

3. Jn. 20: 24-29

Jn. 20: 24-29: This exclamation of Thomas is the supreme affirmation of faith in which the sum total of the Johannine faith is expressed. Thomas exclamation is indeed the new covenant declaration of our relationship with the word incarnate, a confession which each one of us is called to make and thereby enter into the blessed v. 29 life of Jesus’ community.

2. Mt. 12: 38-42

Mt. 12: 38-42: 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.

1. Lk. 13: 22-30

Lk. 13: 22-30: Jesus foresees that people from all nations will convert and come into the church. The Jews alone cannot claim the kingdom of God by merely having a superficial acquaintance with Jesus. It demands serious effort like entering through a narrow door. The v. 25b “I do not know where you come from” is very frightening.  It exhorts us to have a serious examination of conscience. 

30. Jn. 7: 14-24

Jn. 7: 14-24: Jesus heals the impotent man on the Sabbath and the action infuriates the Pharisees. Jesus on the other hand justifies his action glorifying God. Jesus has the argument with them and he tells them to judge fairly. We see the logical, keen and clear mind of Jesus defeating the wisest but ill intentioned men of his times.

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. Mk. 10: 46-52

Mk. 10: 46-52: The blind man at Jericho understands that if he lets this opportunity go by there will not b another chance; so he shouts all the way. An authentic disciple must be the one who is fully convinced of his/her total inability to become God’s child except through the power of Jesus. Only Jesus can provide the divine light. The bind man designates Jesus as Son of David. He actually ‘sees’ who Jesus is, more clearly than the disciples and the crowd who have been with him all along.

27. Lk. 15: 8-10

Lk. 15: 8-10: A woman searches diligently for her lost coin. The same way Jesus speaks of a God who searches for men who are lost in sin. For Jews it is a new idea or concept. Man searching God is understood by them easily. We believe in the seeking love of God, because we see that love incarnate in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came to seek and to save that which was lost.

26. Mk. 4: 21-25

Mk. 4: 21-25: The word works secretly within the heart but when we discover the transformation that is at work in our life, we readily proclaim Christ and make known to others the secret that has made us happy. So Jesus wants us to read the Gospel and challenge ourselves before we follow any further. Then we produce fruit according to the Gospel in our life. 

25. Mt. 12: 33-37

Mt. 12: 33-37: That which is in the heart can come to the surface only through lips. Jesus laid it down that a man would specially render account for his idle words. In public he carefully chooses what he says in private he takes the sentinels away. So whatever he says in anger what he really thinks and what he has often wanted to say, but which the cool control of prudence has kept him from saying. It is often these words which cause the greatest damage. A man may say in anger things he would never have said if he was in control of himself.

24. Lk. 12: 57 - 13: 5

Lk. 12: 57 - 13: 5:  Jesus speaks about individual conversion and to have that conversion at the earliest, lest it is too late like that happened to those people upon whom the tower fell and perished. A Christian must be prepared to face any eventuality to settle things before the things go wrong.

23. Mk. 12: 38-44

Mk. 12: 38-44: Though the teachers of the law were not bad persons and they were interested in religion. They teach people trying to be a saint but he becomes a weak person. The very respect that people show leads them to overlook in themselves many wrongs that in anybody else would be severely censured. The poor woman is the personification of those uncountable poor, who made retribution to God as one deserves. God calls on the poor to give all that they have to live on.

22. Mt. 13: 24-30 & 36-43

     Mt. 13: 24-30 & 36-43: Because of the roots of wheat and weed are intertwine it is dangerous to put out the weeds. In the same way virtue and vice are seen intertwined in our life and it is, for us to see which direction we are moving forward. Because good and evil mingle in this world we need vivid symbols and signs to serve as focal points for our faith and our life.

21. Jn. 6: 60-63

Jn. 6: 60-63: Jesus knew that some would not receive him and reject him with hostility. No man can accept him unless he or she is moved by the Spirit of God. The word of God that Jesus spoke is the key to this Spirit of God by which one can come to God through Jesus.

20. Mk. 12: 1-12

Mk. 12: 1-12: The early church saw what was told in the parable fulfilled. The Jewish people rejected Jesus while the gentiles receiving him. The church is this new vineyard of Christ being entrusted by Christ to cultivate, care for and to bring forth fruits for God who is the rightful owner.

19. Mt. 11: 1-6

Mt. 11: 1-6: Jesus preached the gospel of divine holiness with divine love. He was saying to the disciples of John (to whom the episode is directed) “May be I am not doing the things you expected me to do. But the powers of evil are being defeated not by irresistible power, but by unanswerable love”. Jesus’ aim was to draw faith and hope from the disciples of John. It is again a direction to his disciples too.

18. Jn. 16: 25-33

Jn. 16: 25-33: Jesus opens up the way to the father making the one who believes in Jesus is also the beloved of God. To him there is the forgiveness, sympathy and the gift of Jesus. He is not alone, but with the Father making easy for the believer to come to the Father.

17. Lk 12: 22-34

Lk 12: 22-34:  It is not what we earn but what we give makes our life a blessing to all. To explain the above, Jesus tells this parable of the rich fool, in which the quantity of his wealth never saves him and never gives him eternal security. So the one who trusts in the providence of God, will find happiness in life, safety in the hand of God. He will forsake anxiety of heart and seek the kingdom of God in all throughout his life.

16. Mk 1: 40-45

Mk 1: 40-45: All who had skin diseases were considered lepers at Jesus’ times and thereby unclean and are outcastes.  By curing such a one is a conspicuous and significant feature of the ministry of Jesus. Jesus brings back the lost dignity of man into the warmth of human communion.

15. 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.

14. Mk. 7: 24-30

Mk. 7: 24-30:  Jesus is seen here in healing and preaching without looking into the people’s background especially of religion or caste. Jesus wants us to avoid all kinds of disparity from our minds and in matters of service; he wants us to be more generous. In this gentile woman also Jesus finds faith and he praises it in front of others.

13. 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.

12. 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.

11. Mt. 10: 16-22

Mt. 10: 16-22: The passage gives us the experience of the generation of Christians after Christ’s earthly life. The Christians were hunted by the state, rejected by the religious establishment and ridiculed by their families. A great leadership was demanded to unite them all as of today when the church faces religious pluralism, affluence and secular hegemony. We have to struggle to keep ourselves at spiritual peace.

10. Lk. 6: 27-36

Lk. 6: 27-36: Jesus teaches about how the eschatological community should be. There must be a structural social change. It depend upon personal change –which remains for long time only when it happens from the personal conversions. The social change which happens without the personal conversion and it will not last long because of the new structures of oppressions and exploitations starting from it. So Jesus advocates about love for enemies.

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. 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.

7. 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.

6. 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’

5. 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.

4. 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.  

3. Lk. 10: 25-37

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

2. 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.

1. 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.

31. 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.

30. 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.

29. 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.

28. 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 Christ-less 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.

27. 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, out castes 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.

26. 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.

25. Lk. 7: 11-23

Lk. 7: 11-23: We, the ministers of the church are called to summon all who are spiritually, ecclesiastically, canonically, intellectually dying people to new life. The church should be a place not where people come to die but where they can come to receive new vigor and life.

24. Jn. 2: 13-25

Jn. 2: 13-25: With the trade and the entire ritualism in the temple what happens in the temple was a mere ritualistic worship while the hearts of the people are far from God. So Jesus reacts and cleanses the temple like that of the Old Testament prophets. Unless there is a connection between our piety and our everyday living, our devotions and liturgical services are pure hypocrisy which God rejects.

23. 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.  

22. 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.

21. 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.

20. 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.

18. 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.

17. 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.