The Bread of Eternal Life

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 97 total views 24th Sunday B Is 50:4 – 9 This is the third of the four so-called Servant Songs in Deutero-Isaiah (42:1-7; 49:1-7; 50:4-9; 52:13-53:12). The servant’s identity, as originally intended, has both collective (Israel) and individual features. He is perhaps best described as a prophetic figure who suffers on behalf of others; he is

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 381 total views Isaiah 35:4-7 This reading follows the announcement of judgment on the nations (ch 34) and a song celebrating the joy of the redeemed people of Israel by Yahweh (ch 35). The deliverance of Yahweh vanquishes evil. In Hebrew thought, evil is disguised in various forms: physical illness, handicaps, burned and scorched land without

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 729 total views 22nd Sunday B Dt 4:1-2, 6-8 “Hear, O Israel” (Shema’) is a solemn call to be attentive to God’s word. It serves as an introduction to the subsequent body of laws in the book. Faithful observance of the law leads to life, and life is represented by possession of the promised land (v1).

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 1,081 total views 21st Sunday B Jos 24:1-2, 15-17, 18 This passage is from the conclusion of the book of Joshua (c. 24). After settling in the land of promise, Joshua gathers the Israelites at Shechem. The people are given the choice to renew the commitment made at Sinai (Ex 19-24), with Joshua clearly stating his

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 1,935 total views 20th Sunday (B) Proverbs 9:1-6 In this chapter of Proverbs, two women are central figures: Wisdom and Folly. Lady Wisdom leads her followers to a fulfilling life, while Folly leads to death. Today’s reading focuses on Lady Wisdom. True wisdom, which encompasses the entire book, is understanding God’s law. Following God’s law leads

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 2,646 total views 18th Sunday (B) Ex 16:2-4, 12-15 The people started grumbling by contrasting the life they had under Pharaoh against the life in the desert with Yahweh (v3), to which Yahweh readily responded to their complaint. He promised to “rain down bread from heaven”, a divine gift, poetically described as a rainfall of bread

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 2,842 total views 17th Sunday (B) 2 Kgs 4:42-44 This episode comes from tradition about Elisha (2 Kgs 2-13). Like Elijah, he is also called the “man of God” (v42), through whom the power of God to give life is communicated (cf 4:8-37, where a couple was gifted with a son and even restored his life

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 3,030 total views 16th Sunday B Jeremiah 23:1-6 Prophet Jeremiah attributes the troubles faced by Israel (defeat and deportation) to a lack of leadership, corruption, and neglect by their kings (Ch 22). The kings, acting as shepherds in the name of God, have failed in tending to the flock. In biblical thought, the king was considered

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 3,334 total views 15th Sunday B Amos 7:12-15 Amos was a native of Judah, whose work had been that of a shepherd and caretaker of trees. He is not a prophet by trade but Yahweh had missioned him to Israel, the northern kingdom, (vv 14-15). Because of his prophecy about the demise of the king and

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 4,573 total views s1S#198 Rejected Prophet 14th Sunday (B) Ez 2:2-5 Just like the vocation stories of other prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah (cf, (Is 6:9f; Jer 1:17f), Ezekiel’s calling has common basic elements. The call is from God, and the prophet received the Spirit of God that empowers him to grasp and convey God’s

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 4,036 total views 13th Sunday (B) Wis 1:13-15; 2:23-24 The Book of Wisdom speaks of human imperishability. As the author of life, it is only with life that God is concerned (v13). Death here is understood as a total and final separation from God. Physical death does not figure prominently in the author’s thought. God is

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 4,263 total views 12th Sunday (B) Job 38: 1, 8 – 11 The book of Job is considered a “wisdom in revolt”, that is, questioning the conventional, even, biblical wisdom that man suffers/is punished because of his sins. He has protested innocence in the face of the intense suffering he has endured. He has even questioned

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 4,843 total views Ez 17:22-24 The reading is part of an allegory (beginning from vv3-21) through which Ezekiel describes the political situation of Israel in exile and its consequent restoration. It speaks of an eagle planting a shoot that becomes a verdant vine (Israel) and another eagle (King Nebuchadnezzar) transplanting the verdant vine to a foreign

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 4,721 total views Gen 3-15 The snake represents the forces of evil while the man and the woman are individuals representative of all humanity. The antipathy between the serpent and humans is to be perpetual (v15). But the human’s superior physical position in striking the snake’s head is understood as humanity’s eventual triumph over evil in