31. 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).

30. 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.

29. 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.

28. Jn. 12: 20-26

Jn. 12: 20-26: The coming of the Greeks in search of Jesus, indicates symbolically the coming of the ‘hour’ of his suffering, death and resurrection, which will bring the Gentiles and the Jews together. Jesus sees himself like the rain that falls to the ground to give life- advocates his disciples to follow the same path of ‘self-emptying’.

27. 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.

26. 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.

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. Mt. 21: 28-32

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.

23. Lk. 14: 7-14

Lk. 14: 7-14: There is no room for a Christian for spiritual self-exaltation. Those who gloat over their special entry to God and who deprecate their neighbour’s spiritual vitality are in fact negating the very thing they claim to have. Our closeness to Jesus is measured by how close we are to those around us. However publically some may seem to have rejected Jesus, that refusal is never final. 

22. Mt. 19: 1-12

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 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.

21. 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.

20. 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.

19. 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. 

18. Mk. 1: 29-34

Mk. 1: 29-34: Jesus restores Peter’s mother-in-law to a full and productive life. Our deepest fulfillment is found in allowing the Father to work through our intelligence, abilities, imagination and personalities. Communicating that message of the liberation is available to us when we submit to the rule of God and it was more crucial to Jesus than attracting crowds through miracles. 

17. 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.

16. 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. 

15. 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. 

14. Mt. 22: 15-22

Mt. 22: 15-22: Jesus invites his adversaries to give political life its true place and not to confuse faith and religious fanaticism. ‘What belongs to Ceaser ‘ means ‘the kind of things which fall under his rule’. Thus ‘what belongs to God’ means ‘the obedience of conscience was due only to God’. So he separates religion from politics. From now on, religion should not be manipulated for political purposes, nor should religion confuse its political opponents with the enemies of the kingdom.

13. Mk. 10: 46-52

1       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.

12. 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.

11. 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

10. 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. 

9. 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.

8. Mk. 12: 38-44

1    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.

7. 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.

6. 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.

5. 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.

4. 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.

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. 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.

1. Mk 1: 40-45

Mk 1: 40-45: All who had skin diseases were considered lepers at Jesus’ times and thereby unclean and are outcasts.  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.