31. Lk. 16: 19-31

1    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  to remove the abyss which separates them in this life by this parable. 

30. Mt. 11: 20-24

1    Mt. 11: 20-24:  What was the sin of Chorazin, of Bethsaida and of Capernaum? They forgot the responsibilities of privilege. We cannot condemn a man who never had the chance to know any better but if a man who has had every chance to know the right and does the wrong. People of Tyre and Sodom were of the former type while people from the towns of Galilee are the latter type. Knowing the right, they did the wrong. They didn’t believe in Jesus. 

29. Mt. 22: 34-40

1    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. 

28. Jn 12: 20-26

1    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. Mt. 9: 35 - 10: 1

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.

26. Mk. 13: 24-31

1   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.

25. Mt. 20: 20-28

1    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. Mk. 7: 1-13

1    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 respected and celebrated. Religious traditions must make life coherent and insert us into a wide community of faith and meaning. 

23. Lk. 9: 49-56

1    Lk. 9: 49-56: Our tolerance must be based not on indifference but on love. We ought to be tolerant not because we could not care less,  but because we look the other person with eyes of love. We must never regard the other person as an enemy to be destroyed but as a strayed friend to be recovered by love. 

22. Mk. 8: 22-26

1    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 every day 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. 

21. Mt. 10: 5-15

1    Mt. 10: 5-15: Love and fidelity are the norms 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. 

20. Mk. 1: 16-20

1    Mk. 1: 16-20: The call of the first four disciples: What they hear from Jesus first is ‘follow me’- a call to commit themselves to him. They follow him sharing their lot with him, leaving behind their families and jobs. True discipleship starts when we take seriously Jesus’ call to follow him and change our way of life accordingly. 

19. Lk. 4: 25-30

1    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. 

18. 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. 

17. Jn 9: 1-12

Jn 9: 1-12: Jesus is the light the blind man sees the light of day. Jesus is the light, but people are divided about him. Some are open to the light, that is, to faith: others remain blind that is to say, they keep their own ideas and ‘their own’ belief and refuse to believe in the messenger of God. The one who begins to see in the miracle the power of God is the believer. Faith is not an illusion or cover-up of the reality. They see the same as others see these things which can be touched, counted or measured but the believer captures something that escapes those who lack faith

16. Lk 14: 15-24

1    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.

15. Jn. 20: 19-29

1    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. 

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

1    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. 

13. Jn. 12: 23-28

1    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”. 

12. Lk 6: 20-26

1    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. 

11. Mt 7: 21-28

1    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)

10. 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. 

9. Mk. 2: 1-12

1    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. 

8. Lk. 12: 4-12

1    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. 

7. Jn. 8: 48-59

1    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. 

6. Jn. 10: 22-28

1    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. 

5. Lk 19: 11-27

1    Lk 19: 11-27: How we live in this world, as well as how we pray in the church, can be apostolic and powerfully evangelistic. This parable of the talents, both used and unused speaks on several levels to us on our life. It can be applied spiritual, intellectual and material opportunities. Gifts unused remain unused and for every gift we received we are responsible. Through the members of the church enormous abundance of gifts for the spread of the Gospel are received. Often a fearful attitude that seeks only to preserve the past and not to launch out into the future has hindered the growth of the Gospel.

4. Mt. 21: 28-32

1    Mt. 21: 28-32: Many people receive the message of Jesus in their life and are ahead of the priests, who were indifferent to and felt neither the desire nor the need to change. So also do many uncommitted Christians, who neither work as missionaries nor receive them, believing they do not need conversion.

3. Jn. 20: 24-29

1    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. 19: 1-12

1    Mt. 19: 1-12: 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, the 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. 

1. Mt. 10: 37-42

1    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.