THIS definitely is not a matter of having a dark or gloomy outlook in life. On the contrary, this is what would make us truly realistic, able to have a wholistic picture of our life and knowing what life’s true character and purpose are. We are...
ONCE again, we are reminded in that gospel episode where a man asked Christ to arbitrate in his matter of inheritance with his brother (cfr. Lk 12,13-21) that we should be focused more on the things of God rather than on our earthly affairs. Not that...
THAT rather amusing gospel episode where some leading Jews tried to entrap Christ by asking if it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar (cfr. Mt 22,15-21) brings to light this delicate question about the human autonomy we enjoy in our temporal affairs. As Christ deftly...
IT was quite a stinging statement Christ told his disciples once. “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees,” he said (Lk 12,1), referring to the Pharisees’ hypocrisy. It reminds me of what Pope Francis said to a group of new bishops sometime ago. “The world is...
THERE are times when our conscience confronts us with our sinfulness, usually the hidden and persistent ones, the way Christ confronted the sinfulness of the leading Jews of his time. (cfr. Lk 11,47-54) Instead of reacting the way these Jews did—they reacted with hostility toward...
ON the Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist, celebrated on October 18, the gospel reading is about Christ appointing 72 disciples and sending them to places where he intended to go. (cfr. Lk 10,1-9) Somehow, a sense of urgency was injected in this commissioning when Christ...
IT’S an idiomatic expression that means “to not understand or appreciate a larger situation, problem, etc., because one is considering only a few parts of it.” It’s an expression that aptly describes what was dramatized in that gospel episode where Christ was accused by a...
“THIS generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.” (Lk 11,29) Words of Christ that...
ONCE again, Christ uses a parable to impart to us the great truth of our Christian faith that we are meant to be in heaven, with God for all eternity where our definitive state of life is a sharing in the very life and nature...
“BY the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.” (Lk 11,15) That was the reaction of some unbelieving Jews when Christ drove out a demon from a possessed person. They did not realize that their reasoning was marked by a contradiction. Thus,...