31. Lk. 13: 6-9

       Lk. 13: 6-9: The fig-tree was specially favoured but uselessness invited disaster. It takes everything from the soil but never gives anything. It is sin. But was forgiven by giving the tree a second chance may be the final chance. The fate is decided by itself – its fruitfulness, production, development or change of heart. 

30. Mt. 2: 1-12

Mt. 2: 1-12: The visit of the magi who belong to a different religion known to the Jews, who rejects Jesus by their indifference and hostility displayed by Herod, indicates the Jesus is coming to a new community which is the true Israel. This hostility and indifference towards Jesus and to the new community of Christians remained throughout the life of Jesus and later on can be understood from the martyrdom of St. Stephen. The star indicates that Jesus is the expected Messiah, the true ‘King of the Jews.

29. Jn. 13: 31b-35

1    Jn. 13: 31b-35: The glory of Jesus has come. That glory is the cross. In Jesus God has been glorified and in Jesus God glorifies Himself and God will glorify Jesus. Jesus loved his disciples selflessly, sacrificially, understandingly and forgivingly. All enduring love must be built on forgiveness.

28. Mt. 2: 13-18

1    Mt. 2: 13-18: As children killed at the time of the birth of Moses, St. Mathew portrays that Jesus is the new Moses who came to save people. In the wholly undeserved death, the children stand for the many innocent victims perishing all over the world through malnutrition or violence by an evil system run by people like Herod, who blindly pursue profit and power.

27. Mt. 2: 1-12

1    Mt. 2: 1-12: The visit of the magi who belong to a different religion known to the Jews, who rejects Jesus by their indifference and hostility displayed by Herod, indicates the Jesus is coming to a new community which is the true Israel. This hostility and indifference towards Jesus and to the new community of Christians remained throughout the life of Jesus and later on can be understood from the martyrdom of St. Stephen. The star indicates that Jesus is the expected Messiah, the true ‘King of the Jews. 

26. Mt. 10: 16-22

1    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. 

25. Lk . 2: 1-20

Lk . 2: 1-20: Jesus’ birth against the background of Ceaser Augustus and the world-wide census Luke brings out the significance of Jesus birth for the whole world. In Jesus we find the real peace and salvation. Jesus as the first born brings his significance as the one to be consecrated to God. Shepherds recognizing Jesus in the manger, represent for the new community of God.

24. Mt. 5: 17-20

Mt. 5: 17-20: Jesus come to complete the law as a grown plant draws out the power resident in the seed. ‘Law’ and ‘Spirit’ do not represent conflicting testament or religions-those are two way of approaching God. With law spiritual life is legal and salvation juridical. But spirit locates salvation to our personal link with Jesus and others. Though both don’t save but are only vehicles for the concrete expressions of a supernatural, sanctifying relationship with Jesus. 

23. Jn. 1: 43-51

1    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.

22. Jn. 1: 6-13

1    Jn. 1: 6-13: Jesus is the light shining in the world which is plunged into darkness of evil. This darkness of evil power, tries its best to exterminate Jesus. Jesus the light seals his victory over the darkness with his resurrection. John the Baptist prepares the world to receive the light, the Christ. 

21. Jn. 1: 1-5

1    Jn. 1: 1-5: John is referring to Jesus as the eternal word, who created the world and now enters into the world as part of creation. So the eternal word of God is becoming creation. Therefore Jesus’ coming is a new creation and new beginning. Jesus Christ is the word becoming flesh.

20. Mt. 1: 18-24

1    Mt. 1: 18-24: Mary  is conceived by the Holy Spirit. Jews believed that the Holy Spirit brings God’s truth to men. The Holy Spirit also enables men to recognize that truth when they see it. The same Holy Spirit was active in the work of creation and is active in re-creation. This passage high lights all the above beliefs of the Jews.

19. Jn 3: 31-36

1    Jn 3: 31-36: If anyone wants to be saved from divine rejection and be able to see God’s face of merciful love, he or she must believe in Jesus and live according to his teachings. The one who lives likewise will find inner peace and tranquility in his or her heart.

18. Jn. 14: 1-6

1    Jn. 14: 1-6: If we have true faith in God the Father and in Jesus Christ we will be liberated from all our sufferings. The ‘rooms’ show the intimate communion, sharing the very life of God, reaches it’s culmination in the life with God after our death. It starts with the present life in which Jesus is the Way, the truth and the life.

17. Lk. 1: 67-79

1    Lk. 1: 67-79: In this canticle of Zachariah, we find his belief that his son would be the one who prepares the way. We also find how a Christian would have to be. A Christian is the one where life would be a preparation that leads him to Christ. He knows God through Christ. Estrangement from God is turned to friendship in Christ. This life will be a way of peace for Christian. 

16. Lk 16: 10-13

Lk 16: 10-13: Each of us has a god we serve. The question centers upon which will attract our attention or devotion. Jesus reminds us that the spiritual bonds of human friendship are more important than the simple accumulation of things. We should use our time and opportunities to widen our friendships. This is more so with God. The more we spend time and energy in our life with God, the more we enhance our relationship with God. 

15. Mt. 3: 1-6

1    Mt. 3: 1-6: People recognized John as a prophet after long years of absence of such prophets in Israel. He was a light to light up evil thing, a voice to summon men to righteousness, a signpost to point men to God. 

14. 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. 

13. Lk 1: 57-66

1    Lk 1: 57-66: John the Baptist is named. The name john indicates ‘God’s gift’ or God is gracious. They put that name as ordered by God and the same name is the parent’s gratitude to God. Every child is a bundle of possibilities. It is upon the parents and teachers as to how these possibilities will or will not be realized. Every child is a gift and for which to thank God and is one of the life’s supreme responsibilities.

12. Lk. 11: 33-36

1    Lk. 11: 33-36: Luke refers to the light of Christian mission as a beacon for new converts. He exhorts the Christians to keep their inner eye fixed steadfastly on Jesus so that his light may be refracted through them.

11. Lk 1: 46-56

1  Lk 1: 46-56: The magnificat has been a great hymn of the church. Mary sings of a moral revolution Christianity is the death of pride when a man set his life beside of Christ. It demolishes the castle of pride. It puts an end to the world’s labels and prestige. The social grades are not there in Christianity. Mary thus sings of social justice in which no man dares to have too much while others have too little. Every man gets only to give away. 

10. Lk 1: 39-45

Lk 1: 39-45: Mary is being greeted by Elizabeth. She is being granted the blessedness of being the Mother of God. To be chosen by God is often means a crown of joy and a cross of sorrow. God chooses a man in order to use him or her for a task that will take all the head, heart and hands can bring to it. Both the task and joy involved make one chosen by God, ‘blessed’ as acknowledged by Elizabeth. 

9. Lk. 1: 34-38

1  Lk. 1: 34-38: By accepting God’s plan to become the mother of God, Mary expresses her faith and her surrender to God. In her we find the Christian attitude of faith, hope and charity. God achieves at this moment of transforming humankind to His image. 

8. Lk. 1: 46-55

1Lk. 1: 46-55: The magnificat of Mary speaks of a threefold revolutions both within us and in the world. ‘He scatters the proud in the plans of their hearts’, ‘he casts down the mighty and exalts the humble’ and ‘he has filled those who are hungry and those who are rich he has sent away empty’. It all started with the Immaculate Conception. 

7. Jn 14: 11-14

1 Jn 14: 11-14: Jesus announces that the disciples would be doing everything Jesus has done for the people and that they, will be doing even greater things. In fact the disciple did so in the early days of the church and later with the new techniques. Jesus again announces that God the Father will grant everything they ask in the name of Jesus.

6. Lk 1: 26-38

 Lk 1: 26-38: Mary was in two extreme situations to accept God’s will or to embrace material well being. By embracing the will of God, she for saw many trouble, risk involved. By accepting God’s will she gives the message to every Christian that one should always accept God’s will above all other petty wishes, fancies in life. It is way to freedom and truth – a way to the supreme power of God. 

5. Lk 9: 57-62

1 Lk 9: 57-62: A disciple is a full timer. We should love Jesus more than we do our poverty (v.58) and we should follow him without delay (v.60). The intensity of our discipleship is measured as well by the extent to which we let our faith seep out into the world of politics, work and human relations. The depth of our commitment to Jesus is endowed by whether we let our discipleship show in the way we vote, spend, recreate and deal with others. The life of the Holy Spirit in us is not a closed circuit. We are called to be mature channels for the entry of God’s love and spirit into our world.

4. Mt. 13: 12-17

1Mt. 13: 12-17: The purpose of teaching in parables is explained by Jesus. Parables are earthly stories to convey the message of the eternal truths. The listener is advised to make a judgment freeing oneself from personal defenses. The listener being heard the parables from outside, see his/her situation from within. All may not go through these processes because for them parables are only mere stories. 

3. Mk 6: 7-13

     Mk 6: 7-13: To begin with, a disciple of Christ must be under utter simplicity, complete trust, and the generosity which always gives not demanding tone. It is also the hallmark of anyone who follows Jesus. St. Francis Xavier also is an example who preached Jesus in India.

2. Jn. 8: 26-30

1Jn. 8: 26-30: The world is at its fault. It never recognizes Jesus Christ as the son of God. Obedience to his perfect wisdom and acceptance of him as the savior and Lord can cure the individual as well as the world. All know this and haunts their mind. The cure lies before us. It is our responsibility to accept Jesus or reject him. 

1. Lk. 1: 18-20

1Lk. 1: 18-20: Zachariah accepted his personal tragedy, so vehemently to his heart that he blocked all his faculties to believe God’s message.  Though he wanted it dearly, it came suddenly, strongly beyond his comprehension that he was not able to break open from the cocoon of his personal tragedy. 

30. Mt. 4: 18-22

Mt. 4: 18-22: By calling the first disciples- Peter, Andrew, life, renouncing all their possessions and family, and follow Jesus without knowing where he is leading them. They develop a Master (Guru) disciple (shishya) relationship of deep faith and trust on their Guru.

29. Lk. 1: 5-25

Lk. 1: 5-25: In this remote corner of the world the Good News begins with an elderly childless couple. Nothing is impossible for God. But we must believe in His promises. John the Baptist whose birth is here announced prepare the people that he will operate with the spirit of Elijah to obtain reconciliation for all, through justice and faithfulness to God’s law. 

28. Jn. 12: 37-43

Jn. 12: 37-43: Even the unbelief of certain people, are in the scheme of God. ‘All that he blesses is our good’ God is so great that there is nothing in this world, not even sin, which is outside his power. And yet some prefer to stand with men rather than with God. It is true wisdom and prudence to prefer the good opinion of God than of men. It is right James and John by Jesus, we are told to turn to God with a change of heart. Their conversion makes a decisive change of to be on the side of eternity than on time. 

27. Lk. 19: 45-48

Lk. 19: 45-48: The greatest gift we have to set before God is not a building but our lives. By cleaning the temple Jesus gives this message precisely that he would make His kingdom one for all people and nations, a place of justice where there would be no hypocrisy.

26. Jn. 17: 2-19

Jn. 17: 2-19: The cross was the glory of Jesus because it was the completion of his work and also by obeying God he glorified God. Eternal life is what we know God and his son Jesus Christ. So Jesus reveals the true nature and character of God and thereby brought man closer to God.

25. Mk. 12: 18-27

Mk. 12: 18-27: The Sadducees are silenced by Jesus by proposing to have faith in the power of God by highlighting their shallow understanding of their scripture. God is powerful to overcome death and give life – the resurrected life will enjoy uninterrupted communion with God. Our hope in resurrected life is based on the character of the ever-living God (v. 26 & 27).

24. 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.

23. Mt. 6: 19-21

Mt. 6: 19-21: Although both God and wealth play a vital role in our lives, one of them will be the lens through which we view the world. If wealth is the centre of our lives then religion become a subtle way of insuring the survival of what we have stored. If God is at our center, then the things we own enhance the way we give glory to God. Whichever serves as our lens, will colour our view of the rest of the world. 

22. Mt. 22: 41-46

Mt. 22: 41-46: Jesus here makes his greatest claims. In him there came, not the earthly conqueror like that of David, but the son of God who would demonstrate the love of God upon his cross. The disciples felt a shiver in the presence of the eternal mystery. They had the feeling that they had heard the voice of God, and for a moment, in this man, Jesus, they glimpsed God’s very face. 

21. Lk. 9: 10-17

Lk. 9: 10-17: The multiplication of the loaves of bread foreshadows the Eucharist. If Jesus could multiply the bread for the poor people, then he could feed and nourishes the faithful with his own life. This is the way Jesus answers to the question of Herod ‘who is this man?’

20. Jn. 18: 28-37

Jn. 18: 28-37: The trail of Jesus by Pilate is central in the Gospel of John. The account moves every man to decide what we will do with Jesus-accept him or reject him. No one can compromise with Jesus; no man can serve two masters. We are either for Jesus or against him. We are expected to come out of the captivity of human circumstances to follow Jesus. Pilate was a captive of his office. 

19. Mt. 22: 1-14

Mt. 22: 1-14: The only table of Christ that Christians usually know is the Eucharist. Our meeting together at Mass has to remind us that God calls us to prepare in our daily lives, for the banquet reserved by him for all humankind. Ours is the task of uniting and reconciling all people. We are also reminded that as Christians we are to wear the garment – a life of justice, honesty and trustworthiness!

18. Mt 16: 21-28

Mt 16: 21-28: V.26 resounds all over the world – many people of different cultures changed, converted by hearing this verse. We all can lose ourselves in events. We all play a variety of roles with family, friends and co-workers. By entering on Christ we can allow Jesus to become our central point of balance in this rapidly changing world. The God of the galaxies chose us to a special covenant so that His Eternity can by our own. 

17. Lk 8: 1-3

Lk 8: 1-3: Women could not become disciples of a rabbi and so also of Jesus. But several women took Jesus’ words and attitude as a call to freedom. They joined Jesus’ followers and became witness and supporters of his ministry. Later they would be honoured witnesses of his death and resurrection. Here we have a fundamental testimony to the freedom which the Gospel brings to people in different cultures.  

16. Lk 11: 1-4

Lk 11: 1-4: The disciples ask Jesus as to how to ask things of God. He then teaches them the prayer of ‘Our Father’. It is a prayer by which we acknowledge and submit to God’s sovereignty and providence. Then only we place our particular need within that great design. What we often do is that we reverse that order by presenting our needs in that context of divine providence. The things in our life that we cannot control we submit to the providence of God in whom we should have faith and confidence. 

15. Jn 2: 13-22

Jn 2: 13-22: Cleansing of the temple by Jesus happened because of God’s house being desecrated. Together with this action Jesus made the people think that the whole paraphernalia of animal sacrifice was completely irrelevant. To explain further Jesus indicates of a new temple- his own sacrifice-which would come what this present temple at Jerusalem would have been. In the street, in the home, at business, on the hills in the church we have our inner temple, the presence of the RISEN CHRIST for ever with s throughout the whole world.

14. Lk 22: 24-30

Lk 22: 24-30: What the world needs is service and it is the foundation of the church as well. The one who serves more or ready to serve longer time qualitatively risk high in esteem and in position. Authority is give to serve rather than for authority’s sake. Jesus finished his warning by promising his disciples that those who had stood by him through thick and thin would in the end reign with him. 

13. Jn 14: 1-7

Jn 14: 1-7: There is only one way to God. ‘No one comes to the Father except through me’ (v.6) in him we see what God is like. He leads to this ONE without fear and shame. He speaks this to the disciples honestly and it is for this he came to this world i.e. ‘to prepare a place for us’ (v.2b) in him we end our journey. Heaven is where Jesus is. “Where I am, there you will also be” (v.3)

12. Lk 10: 8-16

Lk 10: 8-16: To reject God’s word invites condemnation. There is a sense in which every promise of God that a man has ever heard can become his condemnation. If he receives these promises they are his greatest glory but each one that he has rejected will someday be a witness against him. 

11. Mk. 10: 28-30

Mk. 10: 28-30: Correct ritual alone or good intentions alone are incomplete. Both must be validated by how we live our life. It may be to simplify our life style or to engage in a more active prayer life or to expand ourselves in a wider service to an individual in need. In this way Jesus promises a qualitatively greater reward not only in this life but in the next as well.

10. Jn. 6: 47-53

Jn. 6: 47-53: Jesus is the bread of life. He is essential for life. So the refusal of his invitation would mean missing of life and death. The fathers who died in the wilderness not only missed the Promised Land but also missed the life to come. Jesus gives life to those who believe in him.

9. Mt. 19: 16-22

1 Mt. 19: 16-22: The rich young man is advised to go beyond the commandments. Jesus tells him to break with the crowd, to leave all he has and to follow. The young man could not do this. Our relationship with Jesus is any other relationship-the more time we spend the more our conversation with him become intimate, rewarding and profound. To such he is ready to do much more unlike the person who meets him once or twice and with him our conversation would be more formal and strained. We are invited to level of spiritual life as that of the former type i.e. to go beyond the commandments. 

8. Mt. 12: 1-13

1Mt. 12: 1-13: Jesus sets priority to human needs. All other needs of worship, ritualistic life and liturgy and so on are important but human needs come prior to them all. He defends the disciples than he defends himself. Christian freedom is established from the enslavement of oneself from the tyrannical regulations. 

7. Lk 5: 1-11

   Lk 5: 1-11: The call of Simon to be a fisher of men and women remind us that the church was created by Jesus to help us attain perfect wisdom and spiritual insight. The teaching of the church is very pivotal. It is through the documents and papal teachings that the successors of St. Peter, the Pope teaching us. The all enable us not to be content with spiritual mediocrity but to push out into deeper waters.

7. Lk 5: 1-11

1 Lk 5: 1-11: The call of Simon to be a fisher of men and women remind us that the church was created by Jesus to help us attain perfect wisdom and spiritual insight. The teaching of the church is very pivotal. It is through the documents and papal teachings that the successors of St. Peter, the Pope teaching us. The all enable us not to be content with spiritual mediocrity but to push out into deeper waters.

6. Lk. 19: 1-10

1Lk. 19: 1-10: Zacheus was not an evil man but defrauded many as a tax collector of Jerico. His meeting with Jesus changed his heart and he willingly compensates the damages done and gave half of his profits to the poor. Salvation comes to us with a change of heart for Jesus. 

5. 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. 

4. Lk. 8: 26-39

1.    Lk. 8: 26-39: A man possessed with a legion (6000) of demons was cured by Jesus. The demon enjoyed a routine way of life in the man. 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. 

3. Lk. 21: 1-4

1Lk. 21: 1-4: The poor widow who put a few pennies to the treasury is a symbol of the poor and dispossessed. The few pennies she contributed meant a great deal to her. It came from her heart and signified sincerity and authority. Jesus comments really make us to know that traditions live through people and not through books. 

2. Lk. 20: 1-8

1Lk. 20: 1-8: The authority of Jesus is questioned. The emissaries of the Pharisees didn’t want to face the truth which would confront them with a sore and to refuse to face it makes them even more a difficult situation. By their own refusal to answer the question which Jesus asked them about John the Baptist, made them frustrated and discredited in the crowd.

1. Mt. 16: 13-19

Mt. 16: 13-19: The foundation of the church is faith in Jesus, the Christ and Son of God. The above text points to the primacy of Peter among all the apostles. The church always needs a visible head. This we believe is the successor of Peter, the Pope.

31. Mt. 5: 1-12

1  Mt. 5: 1-12:  The blessing is related to the people or right attitudes, namely people who have dependence on God, longing for justice, sincerity, mercy and peacableness like the Greek Fathers whose feast we celebrate today. The happiness promised to them is the total liberation of humankind. Though this begins here and now, will reach its fullness in the hereafter. 

30. Mt. 16: 5-12

1Mt. 16: 5-12: The Pharisees saw religion as a set of laws and commandments, outward rituals and purity. The Sadducees involved in politics. So Jesus says not to identify the kingdom with outward goods and actions but what matters really is the state of man’s heart. So one should not forget his or her inner state of the heart.

29. Lk. 9: 46-48

1Lk. 9: 46-48: Children were least important members of society. Jesus indicates that whoever is prepared to spend his or her life in serving and helping people who do not matter much in the eyes of the world is serving Him and the Father in heaven. They are the people of God who works for unity.

28. 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. 

27. Jn 11: 1-16

1Jn 11: 1-16: Death is an inescapable reality. Consciously or unconsciously we confront death everyday: every minute we die a little – we realize that we are limited. In today’s Gospel Jesus is seen preparing the disciple to that realization so that they may believe in the resurrection and with him of all who believe in him may be resurrected. Jesus is the light and whoever walks with him will not ‘stumble’ to death but will be always be in the light and in the life eternal. 

26. Mt. 24: 3-14

1 Mt. 24: 3-14: In this last discourse on the eschatological times, Jesus refers two events that speaks all about the destruction of Jerusalem. Jesus concludes the end of the world also together with. Jesus never entertains the curiosity of the disciples, but warns them that the end of the world cannot be calculated. He instills in them to have a heart that is prepared to face the events at any time.

25. Mt 8: 23-34

   Mt 8: 23-34: The presence of Jesus is power. The disciples realized it only in the dire need to calm the storm. But the people of the town failed to convert the power of the presence of Jesus into faith due to fear. Jesus is with us in the very middle of the storm. In the complexity of our lives, we seldom have the date we would like to make a decision. The best way for us is to consult, pray, decide and then go forward. Having done our best, we can be assured that Jesus remains with us in whatever follows. Jesus gives us strength to survive the storm of our life. 

24. Lk. 9: 18-20

1.    Lk. 9: 18-20: Jesus wanted to know whether the disciples understood what he said and done. So he asks ‘who do they say I am’? Peter responds that he is the fulfillment of Old Testament hopes and that he is the MESSIAH. In order for the kingdom to become public, we must first experience its glory within our lives. 

23. Lk. 16: 1-8

1.    Lk. 16: 1-8: The parable is not about the dishonesty of the steward but about the genius with which he plan for his own future. Jesus remarks that we should be enterprising to exploit spiritual opportunities for our own life. We have to learn to deal creatively and maturely with the Holy Spirit that we have received.

22. Mt 25: 1-13

1.    Mt 25: 1-13: The parable of the ten virgins –five wise and five foolish teaches us that we Christians are not expected to behave like idle spectators, just waiting for the coming of the Lord; we have to work for it; we have to persevere and persist. We have at all times to be always ready, living the word of God, bearing the torch of Christ. 

21. Lk. 11: 37-42

1.    Lk. 11: 37-42: Jesus does not condemn the ritual and external observances but insists that the heart of ritual is faith. The heart of every ritual and religious practices are faith and love. If external observance is the limit of our religion, then sin becomes as superficial as the righteousness that such a faith would seek. So faith brings prayer and ritual to life.

20. Lk 4: 38-44

1.    Lk 4: 38-44: Jesus is ready to serve and heal people always. This made the people to realize that the favours they received were to serve further others in return. So is Peter’s mother-in-law who after being cured by Jesus ‘gets up and serves them’. Jesus attends the needs of men because first he must become companied with God. So it was his habit to rise up ‘early in the morning and went out to be alone’. Prayer is great but in the end human need is greater. 

19. Mt. 18: 10-14

1 Mt. 18: 10-14: Jesus instructs his faithful and disciples not to preoccupy with ranking themselves but with serving the rest. The lost sheep teaches us that though there is joy in finding the strayed one but we must be more concerned to go behind the wandering ones to seek them out and to bring them back to the fold.

18. Lk 8: 41b-56

1  Lk 8: 41b-56: We find again a man Jairus by name who could pocket his pride within himself to present his need and request for help from Jesus. We also find a woman who dares to touch Jesus’ cloak in her dire need. Both people showed immense faith in Jesus. The woman is not the last in the crowd to receive a favour from Jesus. Jesus treats her as if she is the only one in the crowd. So God loves each one of us as if there was only one of us to love.

17. Jn 12: 20-26

1Jn 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. 

16. Jn 10: 1-15

Jn 10: 1-15: Jesus warns the disciples of ‘false shepherds’ who pretend to guide others without being mandated for it. Jesus is the ‘good shepherd’ who leads them out to green pastures, to happiness, to genuine blooming out, to real nourishments ‘who calls his own sheep’ by name, who fights against ‘anonymity’. Jesus is the one who opens for mankind a new ‘vital space’. Without him one is closed within oneself without ideology, theory, religion which delivers one from fatality

15. Lk 9: 28-36

Lk 9: 28-36:It was as if the princes of Israel’s (Moses and Elijah) life and thought and religion approve to go ahead of the salvific act during the transfiguration of Jesus. The passage comes with a vivid message in the verse ‘when they were fully awake they saw his glory’. In life we miss so much because of our minds sleeping because of our prejudices to new ideas, because off our mental lethargy for strenuous thought with our unexamined life and because of our love for ease that shut our minds against any disturbing thought. So transfiguration of our Lord teaches to be awake to grasp the meaning and significance of things around us and the events in our life.

14. Lk. 11: 24-26

Lk. 11: 24-26: The purity of the external dimension without the purity of the spiritual power always invites the evil and demons. No one can take away the Holy Spirit away from us. We are the only ones who can cut off His influences

13. Lk 11: 14-23

Lk 11: 14-23: The cosmic dimension of that ultimate battle took local form in the ministry of Jesus. Jesus is accused of destroying the kingdom of God! So he experiences another form of poverty – misunderstanding, misinterpretation and his words or intentions distorted. In this controversy Jesus stresses the importance of unity. Division leads to failure and destruction. So Jesus, who establishes unity and destroy the failure of everyone who has faith in Him.

12. Lk 10:38-42

Lk 10:38-42: Martha while offering her culinary services to Jesus, Mary sits at Jesus’ feet and listens to his words. This signifies discipleship and Jesus recommends such discipleship as the ‘better half’ as the most important choice amidst the many concerns of life. The way to God is closed to nobody

11. Mt. 20: 1-16

1.    Mt. 20: 1-16: The late workers were paid as much as the early workers here in this passage. The message of the parable is to show that God rewards not according to the time of work but according to one’s entry to God’s call. Applying to ourselves it means that God does not compare us with known or popular saints. The Lord looks at what we have done with what we have. He examines how we have used the opportunities and skills we have been given. We fashion our own spiritual life or death. 

10. Lk. 10: 17-21

1.    Lk. 10: 17-21: The disciples are seen overjoyed about the subjecting of the demons in the name of Jesus. Jesus is more powerful than Satan they understood. This power of casting away of demons is received by those who try to live and preach the Gospel with sincerity. By this power, they can set an individual free to become the son and daughter of God by which he or she was destined to be at birth it is by this way one restore the original order of creation. 

9. Lk. 21:7-19

1.     Lk. 21:7-19:  Jesus warns about the imposters and persecutions of many ways that the church will have to face. The persecution in our country takes the form of a subtle nature. We are subjected to a barrage of stereotyping through the media, attacks upon the institutions of the church-career and professional discrimination against Catholics. The old colosseum of persecution has now become the board offices, universities, television studios, classrooms, government offices and legislatures and so on. 

8. Jn. 5: 39-47

1.    Jn. 5: 39-47: ‘If another comes in his own name, him you will receive’ (v.43b) Jesus attacks the imposters who come and preached what people desire – victory and material prosperity but Jesus preaches the cross. The characteristic of these imposters are to offer the easy way while Jesus offers the hard way to God. The imposters perished while Christ lives on. This knowledge of the way to the kingdom of God is being given only to the Jews then. It become their privilege but failed to use them and thereby had become their condemnation. Responsibility is always the other side of privilege. 

7. Lk 20: 20-26

1.    Lk 20: 20-26: For a Christian, God has the last word not the state. The voice of the conscience is greater than any other man-made laws. To be the conscience of the heart to be allowed to work in the state, a Christian should be part of the government and he must be one and the same time fear God and honour the state authority. 

6. Mt. 5: 13-16

1.    Mt. 5: 13-16: Like salt and light, our faith is most operative when it is part of the everyday texture of our lives. The disciples are to be salt and light not only for the revival of Judaism but of the whole world. If we refuse to be the salt and light of the earth our faith can easily become vulgarized into harmless chocolate images of Christ and religious scenes painted on dinner plates – the harmless artifacts of a faith with all the backbone of a seedless grape. 

5. Mk. 6: 18-29

1.     Mk. 6: 18-29: The story of John’s death is placed here to advert to the shadow of the cross that is darkening the ministry of Jesus. When we live and speak the Gospel clearly and directly, we are most like Jesus in his ministry suffering and hidden glory. The shadow of the cross is always on the horizon of the church’s work. The ministers of the church die and sometimes violently and pass on to the Father every day. 

4. Mt. 15: 21-28

1.    Mt. 15: 21-28: The Canaanite woman is ‘low caste’ in two ways. By birth she belongs to another religion. Being a woman she is oppressed under men. But she has the humility to accept what she is and thereby Jesus acknowledges her faith though she belongs to a different religion. So Jesus teaches us to appreciate the goodness in others whether they belong to different caste, religion or status. 

3. Mt. 11: 25-30

1.    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. 

2. Mt. 18: 10-14

1.    Mt. 18: 10-14: Jesus instructs his faithful and disciples not to preoccupy with ranking themselves but with serving the rest. The lost sheep teaches us that though there is joy in finding the strayed one but we must be more concerned to go behind the wandering ones to seek them out and to bring them back to the fold.

1. Mt. 18: 1-5

1.    Mt. 18: 1-5: The child is held up as a model for the disciples not because of any supposed innocence of children but because of their complete dependence on, and trust in, their parents. So must be the disciples in response to God and the humility with which the child is known as a pattern o Christian’s behavior to his fellow man. 

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.