A JESUIT'S BLOG
Thursday, 3 July 2025
Friday, July 4, 2025 - Is your “usual” way of looking a “negative or pessimistic” way? Will you look at persons, things and events positively today?
To read the texts click on the texts: Gen23:1-4, 19, 24:1-8,62-67; Mt9:9-13
The
text of today contains the call of Matthew, and Jesus’ fellowship with tax
collectors and sinners. It is only in the Gospel of Matthew that the tax
collector is called Matthew. In Mark and Luke, he is called Levi. However, in
the lists of the Twelve in both Mark and Luke, the disciple is named Matthew
and Levi does not appear. It is unlikely that Matthew and Levi refer to the
same person. It was rare for Jews to have two different Jewish names. The
reason for the author choosing the name Matthew remains unknown. However, in
the text what strikes one is that whereas most people who passed by the tax
office would see a corrupt official, Jesus was able to see a potential
disciple. It was Jesus’ way of looking that led to the transformation and the
response of Matthew to the call. In his response to the objection of the
Pharisees, Jesus responds with a common proverb about the sick needing a
doctor, and also quotes from Hosea 6:6, which here is interpreted to mean that
the mercy of God in Jesus is extended to all humanity and takes precedence over
everything else. All else must be understood in this light.
There
are times when we judge people too easily and many of these times our judgement
of them is negative. This is also how we often look at the whole of creation
and because we put labels on things, people and all else in creation, we may
miss out on the uniqueness that each possesses.
Wednesday, 2 July 2025
Thursday, July 3, 2025 - St. Thomas, Apostle of India - Will one person be 'believing' today because you have made Jesus known to him/her?
To read the texts click on the texts: Acts 10:24-35; Heb 1:2-3; Jn 20:24-29
Thomas
the Apostle, also called Didymus (meaning "Twin," as does
"Thomas" in Aramaic") was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus.
He was perhaps the only Apostle who went outside the Roman Empire to preach the
Gospel. He is also believed to have crossed the largest area, which includes
the Parthian Empire and India.
The
text chosen for the Feast of St. Thomas from the Gospel is often mistakenly
referred to as that of “Doubting Thomas”. However, that is a misnomer. Jesus
does not use the word doubt in these verses. Rather, Jesus chides Thomas for
being unbelieving. The story focuses on the grounds of faith. Thomas seeks
tangible proof which the disciples are unable to provide. Jesus provides this
for Thomas and in so doing asks him to move from unbelief to faith.
Thomas
does not touch the hands and side of Jesus as Jesus invites him to do, but
responds with the highest acclamation or title for Jesus anywhere in the New
Testament. Thomas sees God fully revealed in Jesus. This is why Jesus is for
Thomas “My Lord and my God!”
The
Beatitude or blessing pronounced by Jesus on future generations’ states that
having seen Jesus is not a prerequisite for faith. One must first believe in
order to see.
Tuesday, 1 July 2025
Wednesday, July 2, 2025 - Which demons are possessing you and so not allowing you to be free? Do you believe that Jesus can exorcise them from your life today?
To read the texts click on the texts: Gen 21:5,8-20; Mt 8:28-34
The
text begins by stating that Jesus arrived on the other side, which because of
the presence of pigs mentioned in 8,30 is clearly Gentile territory, since Jews
considered pigs as unclean. While in the story in Mark 5,1-20 there is one
demoniac, in Matthew’s story there are two (8,28). The version in Matthew is
considerably shorter than the one in Mark, since Matthew omits many details
that Mark gives. One possible reason for this is that Matthew wants to focus
attention in his story solely on Jesus. The demons recognise Jesus and also
recognise that they belong to two different worlds. In Mark, the demons enter
into conversation with Jesus, but in Matthew they do not, but only beg Jesus to
send them into the herd of swine., and Jesus exorcises them with just one word,
“Go”. Matthew does not tell us what happens to the demoniacs after the demons
leave them. However, when the people of that town are told what happened to the
demoniacs, they beg Jesus to leave their neighbourhood.
More
than physical demons that may possess us, we may be possessed by psychological
demons. These can be feelings of fear, anger, revenge, jealousy, envy and a
pessimistic attitude. If we continue in these feelings we are not living fully
the life that God wants us to live. We need to decide that with the help of
Jesus we are going to get rid of them today.
Monday, 30 June 2025
Tuesday, July 1, 2025 - Have the “storms” of your life sometimes overwhelmed you? Will you believe that with Jesus in the boat of your life these can be controlled?
To read the texts click on the texts: Gen 19:15-29; Mt 8:23-27
The
miracle in our text for today known sometimes as the Calming of The Storm is
found also in Mark (4:35-41) and Luke (8:22-25). It is only Matthew, however,
who emphasises that the disciples “followed Jesus into the boat”. The miracle
is not only a nature miracle but also a story told to indicate that Jesus has
control over the storms of life itself. In Matthew the “storm” indicates the
stormy experience of the community (represented by the disciples in the boat)
who follow Jesus. While in Mark the cry is one of distress (“Teacher do you not
care if we perish?”), in Matthew, it is a liturgical-sounding cry for help
(Save, Lord; we are perishing). In both Mark and Luke the reprimand about
“little faith” is after Jesus has calmed the storm, whereas in Matthew, the
reprimand precedes the calming. This is an indication that “faith” is primary,
and if the disciples had the faith needed, they would not be agitated.
We
may sometimes get disturbed and agitated when things do not happen the way we
expect them to or when we are faced with a difficult situation. At times like
the disciples in the Gospel of Mark we may accuse Jesus of not being concerned
about our plight and at other times like the disciples in the Gospel of Matthew
we may plead with him to come to our aid. No matter which approach we may use,
we need to remember that he will let nothing happen to us that is not part of
his plan and will. We have to continue to do what is required of as and
confidently leave the rest to him.