Reflection for the Week

When a rich young man asked Jesus how to gain eternal life, the Lord said to obey the Commandments, love other people, give his material wealth to the poor, and follow Him. Becoming penniless seemed like too much to ask. Saint Peter wanted to know the perks for the Twelve, who had given up everything to follow the Lord. Jesus invited them to set their sights on heavenly glory and eternal life. In a parable, the Lord compared the Kingdom of heaven to vineyard workers hired throughout the day. At quitting time, all received the same pay, which se

As Jesus walked on choppy water to reach the Disciples’ boat, Peter tried to join Him but started to sink for lack of faith. The Lord buoys up foundering sinners. After Jesus let Peter off the hook for telling a tax collector that He paid the temple tax, the Lord provided a coin in the mouth of a fish to cover the cost for both of them. Peter thought that forgiving someone seven times should suffice. To Jesus, 77 times sounded better. The Lord wants people to come together in faith, and Jesus promised that we can count on the Father to grant

Moses and God got fed up with the people grumbling, even though they had what they needed. On the other hand, Jesus multiplied five loaves and two fish to feed an uncomplaining but hungry crowd. When a Canaanite woman begged Jesus to heal her daughter, He echoed what the Israelites thought by saying that dogs should not get food meant for children. She answered that even dogs get table scraps, and Jesus rewarded her faith by working the miracle. Peter started to sink when Jesus invited him to walk on water toward Him, and the Disciples lacked e

Jesus compared the Kingdom of heaven to a tiny mustard seed that becomes a huge plant, a little yeast that leavens a whole batch of dough, or one treasure worth selling all else to obtain it. At the end of time, Jesus said, angels will separate heavenbound people from the others, like harvesters separating wheat from weeds that had grown in the same field, or like fishermen sorting good fish from bad after hauling in their catch. In Nazareth, people took offense when Jesus, son of the local carpenter and Mary, taught in their synagogue. (Who di

Scribes and Pharisees wanted Jesus to give them a sign. The Lord pointed back to the prophet Jonah and King Solomon. (The notoriously sinful people of Nineveh repented when God sent Jonah as a warning sign of His anger. The Queen of Sheba heard about the God-given wisdom of King Solomon, traveled far with tough questions to test him, and abandoned her skepticism.) In a parable of seed falling on hard, rocky, weed-choked, and good ground, Jesus taught that God’s Word taking deep root in our hearts enables us to grow in purposeful faith. Jesus

Jesus told the Twelve that they would have crosses to bear, but He did not come to place a heavy burden on anyone’s shoulders. Little things matter to the Lord, like ordinary hunger and thirst. According to the Pharisees, Jesus’ Disciples could not lawfully pick heads of grain to eat as they walked along on a Sabbath day. The Lord allowed their snack. He also taught that reward would come to anyone who saw a Disciple and offered a cup of cold water to drink. On the other hand, Jesus disapproved of people who beheld miraculous works but fail

In the Old Testament, Abraham’s grandson Joseph gets sold into slavery by his jealous brothers but later gains a powerful post with the Egyptian Pharaoh. In the New Testament, Jesus mercifully cures a woman of hemorrhaging and restores life to an official’s daughter. Comparing crowds around Him to sheep without a shepherd, the Lord sends the Twelve to heal in His name and proclaim the Kingdom of heaven at hand. They would encounter people as vicious as hungry wolves, ready to tear into them. God notices every fallen sparrow, every sinner, e