Belonging to God The Pharisees and the Herodians plotted to entrap Jesus in speech. They formulated a question which, in their minds, will force Jesus to take a side on the issue of paying the census tax. The question was: “What is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” (Matthew 22:17) If Jesus said “yes”, then the Pharisees, who were against the census tax, would accuse Him of being a collaborator with the…
Heaven’s Wedding Feast Why is the Kingdom of God like a wedding feast? The Book of Isaiah tells us about the messianic banquet (see Isaiah 25:6-10). In the Old Testament, the messianic banquet is the great celebration of Yahweh’s victory over the enemies of Israel. It is an eschatological event, which means that it will happen in the end times. At that time, peace and righteousness will be established, and there will be no more suffering and death. There will…
Jesus Christ the Cornerstone The Parable of the Tenants features a landowner who leased his vineyard to tenants. But when the time came for the landowner to obtain his produce from the tenants, not only did the tenants refuse to give the landowner his due, they even beat, stoned and killed the servants who were sent by the landowner. Finally, when the landowner sent his son to the tenants, they seized him and killed him in order to acquire his…
Two Sons “The Parable of the Two Sons” has different translations. Tradition A is used by major Bible translations wherein it was the first son who initially gave a verbal refusal to go to the vineyard but later on went. The second son consented to go but did not. The first son is identified as the one who did the father’s will. Tradition B reverses the order of the sons. Thus, the first son consented to go but did not,…
Fair pay This parable is a story about a landowner who compensated some workers with extraordinary generosity. The truth is that nobody was treated unfairly. The workers who worked all day were given a just wage – a wage that they had agreed upon. One could say that the only person at the losing end was the landowner, because he could have saved money if he had paid each worker according to the work they did. However, it seems that…
70 times 7 In today’s Gospel, Peter approached Jesus and asked how many times he must forgive his brother; he even suggested if he should limit it to seven times. Jesus’ response of “77 times” (or “70 times 7 times”) means that we should forgive without limit. In the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, we saw what happened to the servant who, after having been forgiven by his master for a huge debt, refused to forgive a fellow servant who…
Reconciliation in the Church In the First Reading, the Lord appointed the prophet Ezekiel as watchman for the house of Israel. In that role, Ezekiel was responsible for speaking out and dissuading the wicked from their evil ways. If the wicked refuses to turn from his evil ways, they shall die for their guilt, but Ezekiel would have done what was right. Does that mean we are also responsible for pointing out other people’s evil ways? Regardless of whether you…
Follow Me Jesus made known to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. (Matthew 16:21) This prediction of the Lord’s Passion caught Jesus’ disciples by surprise. Evidently, Peter along with the other disciples, did not understand what kind of Messiah Jesus was; they expected a warrior king who would conquer the enemies of Israel in a military…
Keys of the Kingdom Since the beginning of His public life, Jesus chose certain men, twelve in number, to be with Him and to participate in His mission. He gave the Twelve a share in His authority and sent them out to preach the Kingdom of God, to heal the sick and to drive out demons. Jesus gave Simon Peter primacy among the Twelve. When Jesus asked the Twelve who they thought He was, Peter had confessed: “You are the…
Scraps of Grace The Canaanite woman came to Jesus for help. Jesus said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” The woman begged, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Jesus replied, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed. (Matthew 15:24-28) Inasmuch as there are so many great things to reflect…