Matthew 15:21-28; 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time At first glance, Jesus is somewhat testy and heartless in the Gospel story today. You can see it right there in the exchange between him and the Canaanite woman, an outsider. When the woman calls out to him, he first gives her the silent treatment. When she continues…
Category: Evangelist: Matthew
Crumbs – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Matthew 15:21-28; 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time Many of us, Catholics, take it for granted that because Jesus was (and still is) both human and divine, God must have wired his brain to perfection, right? Every year, I have students who start out their course in Christology thinking that Jesus didn’t have to be taught…
Wheat over Weeds- Arnel Aquino SJ
Matthew 13:24-43, 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time In his last two years on earth, Jesus left the life of fixing and building things so he could fix and build people instead. As a skilled carpenter, he could assess a project before even driving the first nail in. So, Jesus must’ve foreseen right from the start,…
Abandoned – Francis Alvarez, SJ
Matthew 26:14 -27:66; Palm Sunday “And about three o’clock, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli,Iema sabachthani?” which mean “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Did God the father abandon Jesus on the cross? Everything I have been taught about God cries out, “No!” Just four months ago, we were singing…
More! – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Matthew 4:1-11, First Sunday of Lent If we still believe that Genesis 3 is a literal story of moment number one of sin number one, how do we account for the following difficulties, like – did snakes really talk in the beginning of time? Why was the snake malicious if God created everything good? If…
Starts with P – Jett Villarin, SJ
Matthew 4:1-11; First Sunday of Lent In physics, we explain attraction by assigning certain qualities to objects that make them move toward each other. Usually these properties are binary or polar in nature. Thus in electricity, plus attracts minus, and vice versa. In magnetism, north and south. In the nucleus of an atom, protons that…
Passport – Jett Villarin, SJ
Matthew 5:17-37, Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time “I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 5:20) If heaven were a country, entering it will take more than just fulfilling all visa requirements. Apparently, the scribes and Pharisees did not get this…
All About Freedom – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Matthew 5:17:37, Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Imagine a former slave of Pharaoh saying: “We’ve recently been freed from eight generations of slave life, thanks to Moses and his awesome God! Before them, we had no idea what freedom felt like. Well, now we’re free! No more slave drivers, whips, or clubs. We have a…
Off-Center – Jett Villarin, SJ
Matthew 4:12-23, Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Jesus begins his ministry off-center. Not in his hometown Nazareth nor in the center of religion, Jerusalem. His proclamation of the good news is preceded by bad news. John’s arrest prompts him to move northward to Galilee, “west of the Jordan, the District of the Gentiles”, to a…
John and Maria – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Matthew 3:1-12; Second Sunday of Advent The other night, I was astounded to see Maria Ressa appear on the Late Show with StephenColbert. Then, yesterday morning, she appeared on NPR news with veteran journalist JudyWoodruff. And last night, she was on MSNBC news! “How to Stand Up to a Dictator”, the bookshe had written, was…
Awake – Jett Villarin, SJ
Matthew 24:37-44, First Sunday of Advent “Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left. Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.”…
Look to the Saints – Bert Boholst, SJ
Matthew 5:1-12, Solemnity of All Saints Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints. We remember those who followed Christ, despite the trials that came in their lives. The Church declares them as Saints because of their full acceptance of God’s will despite their sufferings while living on earth. We look to them as examples…
One Lost Sheep 