Daily Reflection | Gospel Reading | RVA

Gospel: Matthew 9:14-17
Then the disciples of John came to him with the question, “How is it, that we and the Pharisees fast on many occasions, but not your disciples?”
Jesus answered them, “How can you expect wedding guests to mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The time will come, when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then, they will fast.
No one patches an old coat with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for the patch will shrink and tear an even bigger hole in the coat. In the same way, you don’t put new wine into old wine skins. If you do, the wine skins will burst and the wine will be spilt. No, you put new wine into fresh skins; then both are preserved.”

Reflections
“Put new wine into fresh skins to preserve both.”
At play in this gospel passage is the tension between to fast and not to fast. However, the main point here is the identity of Jesus. The disciples of John advanced the surface issue of fasting, but Jesus redirected their focus to a deeper concern, that is, His identity as the “bride- groom,” as the Messiah.
As the one who calls for repentance and grants forgiveness of sins, Jesus celebrates when one is reconciled back to God, as in the case of Matthew, the other tax collectors and sinners who gathered in his house. Having repented and having been forgiven and reconciled to God are a definitive reason for Jesus to celebrate. In this way, the inauguration of the kingdom of God in Jesus public ministry has brought a radically new dimension to the religious practices of John’s disciples and the other Jewish groups at that time. Fasting needs to be maintained, together with the celebration of God’s mercy that Jesus brought while awaiting his return (Brendan Byrne). By introducing this, Jesus transformed an understanding of fasting or mourning that is now able to accommodate the celebration of God’s mercy.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: Matthew 9:9-13
As Jesus moved on from there, he saw a man named Matthew, at his seat in the custom house; and he said to him, “Follow me!” And Matthew got up and followed him. Now it happened, while Jesus was at table in Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners joined Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why is it that your master eats with sinners and tax collectors?”
When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people do not need a doctor, but sick people do. Go, and find out what this means: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Reflections
“What I want is mercy. . .”
The celebration at the table in Matthew’s house expresses a foretaste of the celebration that happens in the kingdom of God. The welcoming and bringing together of people, sinners or righteous, is a joyous celebration in the kingdom. And the reconciliation of individuals with their Maker is one thing to celebrate.
Even before Jesus said to Matthew “Follow me!”, he already looked at him with mercy. The words “Follow me!” carry in them the merciful love of Jesus, from which forgiveness springs. It is mercy that Jesus brings and offers; it is also what He desires.
Mercy characterizes in a concrete way the ministry of Jesus. It is a mark of the reign of God that Jesus ushered in, a mark of the Church, and a mark of a Christian. Mercy allows us to understand, forgive and welcome. That is why there is a celebration at the house of Matthew. That is why in the celebration of the Eucharist everyone may participate. This same mercy, which allowed reconciliation with God and our fellow humans, calls us to extend to others our experience of Jesus’ merciful love to others.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: Matthew 9:1-8
Jesus got back into the boat, crossed the lake again, and came to his hometown. Here, they brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a bed. Jesus saw their faith and said to the paralytic, “Courage, my son! Your sins are forgiven.”
Some teachers of the law said within themselves, “This man insults God.” Jesus was aware of what they were thinking; and said, “Why have you such evil thoughts? Which is easier to say: ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Stand up and walk’? But that you may know, that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins,” he said to the paralyzed man, “Stand up! Take your stretcher and go home!” The man got up, and went home. When the crowds saw this, they were filled with awe, and praised God for giving such power to human beings.

Reflections
“Your sins are forgiven.”
Yesterday’s gospel reading is implicit in announcing that God is love embodied in Jesus and that Jesus is the embodiment of this love. In today’s reading, a dimension of the love of God in Jesus is revealed, that is forgiveness. Jesus is not only able to forgive sins, but He is the embodiment, the bringer of the forgiving love of God. He is forgiveness sent to the world, made present in the world.
The reign of God is a condition wherein forgiveness fills the heart of humanity. It is not difficult to see if forgiveness pervades the human community. And we can easily determine its presence or absence; we only have to observe and be attentive. A test of love, kindness and gentleness is forgiveness. It can never be absent in love, kindness and gentleness; it is a function of these three. The presence of forgiveness heals the deepest of wounds, and its absence inflames the slightest hurt. Forgiveness reconciles; it reconnects. While it breaks human barriers, it also rebuilds and recreates. It brings peace to the mind and heart.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: John 20:24-29
Thomas, the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he replied, “Until I have seen in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
Eight days later, the disciples were again inside the house and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; stretch out your hand, and put it into my side. Do not continue in your unbelief, but believe!”

Reflections
“You are my Lord and my God.”
This gospel passage demonstrates an ‘unparalleled expression of faith’ that began with disbelief and doubt (Bredan Byrne). We have here another in- stance revealing Jesus identity. Two things are made clear in this gospel reading: one explicitly declares that Jesus is God and the other implicitly admits that God is love.
Thomas confesses that Jesus is God. But before this personal pronouncement (the use of “my”), Thomas named the conditions that might lead him to believe, namely: he wanted to see the print of the nails, and put his fingers in the marks and in Jesus’ side. Is it merely the sight and touch of the marks on Jesus’ hands, or the sight of Jesus himself, that moved him to believe? It could probably be the profound realization of the power and greatness of God’s love embodied in Jesus; it could be the experience of such love at that very moment of touching the mark of nails and the side of Jesus, a love that is able to send Jesus for the whole world and that is able to accept and face a gruesome death on the cross. The touch on the marks of nails and side of Jesus is an experience of the pure and unconditional love of God.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019