Tuesday, September 8, 2026 - The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

To read the texts click on the texts: Micah5:1-4; Mt 1:1-16,18-23

The source for the story of the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the Protoevangelium of James, an apocryphal gospel written around 150 C.E. From it, we learn the names of Mary's parents, Joachim and Anna, as well as the tradition that the couple was childless until an angel appeared to Anna and told her that she would conceive.

The traditional date of the feast, September 8, falls exactly nine months after the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary.

The readings clearly indicate that the feast of the nativity of Mary is a preparation for the feast of the Nativity of Jesus. Mary is that open vessel who allowed God to work in her and so enabled God to bring to fruition through her Son Jesus, the salvation of the whole human race.

The text chosen for the feast is from the Gospel of Matthew and contains the Genealogy and the story of the birth of Jesus. The Gospel of Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus.

 Jesus is, for Matthew, the Messiah who has descended from David, as foretold by the scriptures. God continues to act in human history, and that God acts now, in a decisive way, in the sending of God’s Son. God is not simply a God in the heavens, but a God who is Emmanuel, God with us.

Matthew’s genealogy consists of three parts. The first, which begins with Abraham, ends with the Davidic kingship. The second begins with David and ends with the deportation or exile to Babylon. The third begins with the exile and ends with the birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Matthew calls attention to the number fourteen at the end of the genealogy and, though a variety of suggestions have been offered as to why he chose fourteen, the simplest explanation is that the numerical value of “David” in Hebrew (DWD) is fourteen (d, 4; w, 6; d, 4). By this symbolism, Matthew points out that the promised "son of David" (1:1), the Messiah, has come. And, if the third set of fourteen is short one member (to solve this problem some count Jechoniah twice), perhaps it suggests that, just as God cuts short the time of distress for the sake of his elect, so also he mercifully shortens the period from the Exile to Jesus, the Messiah.

Unlike Luke’s genealogy, which does not name a single woman, Matthew’s genealogy mentions four women besides Mary. These are Tamar, Ruth, Rahab, and Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba. Several reasons have been offered as to why Matthew mentioned these four women. Three of these reasons are widely accepted today: (a) there was something extraordinary about their union with their partners; (b) they showed initiative or played an important role in God’s plan and so came to be considered as instruments of God’s providence or of his Holy Spirit; and (c) all four women (except Mary) were Gentiles and Matthew wants to show that in God’s plan of salvation, the Gentiles were included from the beginning.

Through this, Matthew probably wants to show that God wants all to be saved and that he uses the unexpected to triumph over human obstacles and that he intervenes on behalf of his planned Messiah. This combination of scandalous and irregular union, and divine intervention, explains Matthew’s choice of the four women.

What are the points that Matthew makes in his genealogy and what does he want to achieve by it? Matthew clearly wants to show that Jesus is the fulfilment of all Israel’s hopes. The story of Jesus is part of the story of God’s constant saving acts throughout the history of Israel. God involves himself in the nitty-gritty of life. Despite the constant infidelity of Israel, God remained faithful and, in a definitive way, directed its history towards its fulfilment in Jesus Christ.

Matthew is also interested in affirming that the plan of God has often been fulfilled in history in unanticipated and “irregular” ways, as was the case in the birth of Jesus from Mary, and that Matthew is interested in showing that God worked through irregular, even scandalous ways, and through women who took initiative, like Tamar and Ruth. Yet the main reason for Matthew’s inclusion of these women corresponds to one of the Gospel’s primary themes: the inclusion of the Gentiles in the plan of God from the beginning. All of the men in Jesus’ genealogy are necessarily Jewish. But the four women mentioned, with the exception of Mary, are Gentiles, “outsiders,” or considered to be such in Jewish tradition. Just as the following story shows Jesus to be the fulfilment of both Jewish and Gentile hopes, so also the genealogy shows that the Messiah comes from a Jewish line that already includes Gentiles.

By showing Jesus as descended from David, Matthew wants to explicate that Jesus is the royal heir to the throne. Jesus, however, thorough his life, cross, death and resurrection will redefine the meaning of Kingship as never before.

Finally, Matthew wants to stress that God is active constantly in history and involved in the lives of his people. He works not only miraculously but also ordinarily in human effort, pain, and struggle to bring people to the kingdom.

The genealogy is followed by the story of the birth of Jesus. Since Mary and Joseph were engaged, they were legally considered husband and wife. Thus, infidelity in this case would also be considered adultery. Their union could only be dissolved by divorce or death. Though Joseph is righteous or just, he decides not to go by the letter of the law and publicly disgrace Mary, but he chooses a quieter way of divorcing her. God, however, has other plans for both Joseph and Mary and intervenes in a dream. Joseph is addressed by the angel as “Son of David” reiterating, once again after the genealogy, the Davidic origin of Jesus. He is asked to take Mary as his wife and also informed that is the Spirit’s action that is responsible for her pregnancy. He is told that he is to give the child the name “Jesus". Jesus (Iesous) is the Greek form of "Joshua" which, whether in the long form yehosua, ("Yahweh is salvation") or in one of the short forms, yesua, ("Yahweh saves”), identifies the son, in the womb of Mary, as the one who brings God’s promised eschatological salvation. The angel explains what the name means by referring to Ps 130:8. The name “Jesus” was a popular and common name in the first century.  By the choice of such a name, Matthew shows that the Saviour receives a common human name, a sign that unites him with the human beings of this world rather than separating him from them.

Matthew then inserts into the text the first of ten formula or fulfilment quotations that are found in his Gospel. This means that Matthew quotes a text from the Old Testament to show that it was fulfilled in the life and mission of Jesus. Here, the text is from Isa 7:14 which, in its original context, referred to the promise that Judah would be delivered from the threat of the Syro-Ephraimitic War before the child of a young woman, who was already pregnant, would reach the age of moral discernment. The child would be given a symbolic name, a short Hebrew sentence “God is with us” (Emmanu‘el) corresponding to other symbolic names in the Isaiah story. Though this text was directed to Isaiah’s time, Matthew understands it as text about Jesus, and fulfilled perfectly in him, here in his birth and naming.

This birth narrative of Matthew invites us to reflect on a number of points. Of these, two are significant.  First, many of us are often caught in the dilemma of doing the right thing which might not always be the loving thing.  If we follow only the letter of the law, we may be doing the right thing but not the most loving thing.  However, if we focus every time on the most loving thing, like Joseph, it is surely also the right thing. Though Joseph could have done the right thing and shamed Mary by publicly divorcing her, he decides to go beyond the letter of the law and do the loving thing, which in his case was also the right thing.

Second, the story also shows us who our God is.  Our God is God with us. Our God is one who always takes the initiative, who always invites, and who always wants all of humanity to draw closer to him and to each other. This God does not come in power, might, and glory, but as a helpless child. As a child, God is vulnerable. He is fully human and in his humanity, is subject to all the limitations that humanity imposes on us. Yet, he will do even that, if only humans respond to the unconditional love that he shows.

Monday, September 7, 2026 - How often have you made rules and regulations more important in your life than love?

 

Sunday, September 6, 2026 - "I" is in the centre of SIN

 

Sunday, September 6, 2026 - Together, Not alone

To read the texts click on the texts: Ezek33:7-9;Rom13:8-10; Mt 18:15-20

As a child in school I learnt a poem which had great rhyme and meter and which when recited aloud with actions that accompanied it sounded good to the ear. It went like this:

I had a little tea party

This afternoon at three

It was very small

Three guests in all

Just I, myself and me.

Myself ate up all the sandwiches

While I drank up the tea

It was also "I" who ate the pie

And passed the cakes to me.

It was only many years later that I realized that it was one of the most selfish poems that one could recite. The focus in the poem was on one individual and one individual alone; I, myself and Me. This is surely not the Christian way of proceeding. In Christianity we are individuals but in and within a community.

In the Bible we come across certain passages that are as relevant and practical in our lives today as they were thousands of years ago when they were first written. Today’s readings are good examples of such passages. Together they reminds us that as faithful Christians it is our responsibility to reach out to the errant members of the community and bring them back into the fold. Christianity, is both an individual and communitarian religion and every one of us are our brother’s and sister’s keepers. They even go on to recommend practical steps on how to go about doing this. They invite us to review our ‘I-don’t-care’ attitude toward fallen and lax members of the Church, reminding us that it is our business to reach out to them.

As members of the Church, we are not just a priestly people who offer sacrifice; we are also a prophetic people, which means that we are God’s spokespersons. We speak on behalf of God. Today’s first reading is, in fact, a compact job description that God gave to the prophet Ezekiel on what it means to be a prophetic person. As sentinel or watchman, Ezekiel places himself as an intermediary between God and the people. He realizes that it is his responsibility as a member of the community to ensure that all in the community are saved from sin. He cannot be merely content with his own salvation. He must do whatever it takes to bring those who stray back to the fold.

The Gospel text from Matthew deals with discipline, reconciliation and the presence of the Lord. This text is part of the fourth discourse in the Gospel commonly known as the “Community Discourse”. The concern in these verses is with community or congregational life and not primarily about personal relations. Like Ezekiel, every Christian is also called to be concerned about other members of the community, since ours is a faith of a community and never of merely individuals. We act together, so we can help one another and so we can work to God’s name, thereby multiplying our resources and ability to do what God calls us to do. Our community is the lifeline to the experience of God and an example of the power of God moving among God’s people.

The procedures that Matthew suggests for bringing back an errant member of the community may seem stringent. However, when we realize that the point is one of radical care and concern and not self righteousness or vindictiveness, then they take on a new meaning. The errant member, the leaders of the community and the community are all protected from arbitrariness and self-centered actions.

While a private spiritual and prayer life is essential for each of us and we need to spend time alone with God, it is likely to become dry and turn inward, if it is not infused with regular doses of shared worship and prayer with others, gathered in the Lord’s name. The gathering together also signifies how important we are to each other and how much we depend on each other. Through our link to one another through Christ, there is a power in our community, uniting the values of God to our values on earth. This is how Jesus enables us to use God’s power for healing and life-giving love effectively among God’s people.We come together, we stay together, we work together in our Lord’s name, bringing to focus the presence of God and unleashing the power of the Spirit to transform our lives and the lives of all God’s children.

In the second reading of today Paul, speaking in a similar vein, challenges the community at Rome to show their love for one another in action. It is love which characterizes the Christian community and it is love which will sustain and nourish it. This love must also show itself as a commitment to justice – a love that never does any wrong to anyone. To be Christian thus means to be one who not only loves, but also one led by love to reach out to anyone who is in need. It is to be conscious of the fact that even if one member of the community does not feel part of the community, the community is not whole.

Saturday, September 5, 2026 - How often have you made rules and regulations ends in themselves?

 

Saturday, September 5, 2026 - How often have you made rules and regulations ends in themselves?

To read the texts click on the texts: 1 Cor 4:6-15; Lk 6:1-5

The episode is a Sabbath controversy, and is found also in Mark 2,23-28 and Matthew 12,1-8. Since Deut 23,24-25 allowed a person passing a neighbour’s field to pluck heads of grain with the hand, this does not seem to be the reason for the complaint of the Pharisees. Luke (6,1) alone states that the disciples were rubbing the heads of grain in their hands, which could be interpreted as threshing, and threshing was one of the forms of work forbidden on the Sabbath. In his response, Jesus refers to the incident from 1 Samuel 21,1-6 in which David confronted Ahimelech at Nob. The point that the Lucan Jesus makes is that if David had the authority to overturn Levitical rules and eat the bread of the Presence and even give it to his companions, because he gave priority to human need over ritual observance, so can Jesus, who is Lord of the Sabbath.

Rules and regulations are made so that there might be order in society and each will know his/her role. It is possible that sometimes they might become ends in themselves and take precedence over everything else. They can never take precedence over human need. All rules and regulations are at the service of humans and not the other way around.

Friday, September 4, 2026 - Are you afraid of change? Why?

 

Friday, September 4, 2026 - Are you afraid of change? Why?

To read the texts click on the texts:1 Cor 4:1-5; Lk 5:33-39

In Luke, this episode about fasting continues from the previous one (5,27-32) in which after the call of Levi (5,27-28), Jesus eats in Levi’s house along with tax collectors and others. This table fellowship leads the Pharisees to murmur. Jesus responds with a common proverb about only the sick needing a physician and then emphasises that he has come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance (5, 31 – 32). Luke omits Mark’s introduction, which informs us that John’s disciples’ and the Pharisees were fasting, and thus allows the conversation of the previous scene to continue. In response to the comment that John’s disciples like those of the Pharisees fast and pray, Jesus responds with a metaphor of a wedding feast and the inappropriateness of the guests fasting while the wedding is in process and the bridegroom is with them. While in Mark the new or unshrunk cloth is sought to be sewn onto an old garment; in Luke the cloth is first torn from a new garment and then sought to be put onto an old garment. In Luke the destructive effect of tearing the new garment is highlighted. Lk 5,39 is exclusive to Luke and brings out the closed attitude of those who do not want the new. They prefer to stick to the old because they feel comfortable with it and are not willing to change or see things from a new perspective. They insist that the old is good.

It is not always easy to accept change. We prefer to do things the old way and feel comfortable when things remain the same. We must realise that the only thing that is permanent is change and we must get used to it. While we need not change just for the sake of changing, we must be open and receptive to change and be ready to change when we have to.

Thursday, September 3, 2026 - Each of us has a special role in this world? What is yours? How will you live it out?

 

Thursday, September 3, 2026 - What do you think Jesus is calling you to today? Will you answer his call?

To read the texts click on the texts: 1Cor 3:18-23; Lk 5:1-11

The call of the first disciples in the Gospel of Luke is different from the other Synoptic Gospels. While in Matthew and Mark Jesus calls to them when he was passing by the Sea of Galilee, here he is in Simon’s boat. While there are similarities between this account in Luke and the account of the miraculous catch in John 21, 1-4, there are also differences. The most striking difference is that Luke uses the story here as the setting for Simon’s call to follow Jesus, whereas John uses it to show that Peter was reconciled with the risen Jesus after having denied him. While in John, Jesus is not in the boat but on the shore, here in Luke he is in the boat. In John there is only one boat, that in which the disciples are, here there are many boats. The nets in Luke are beginning to break, but John explicitly mentions that despite the large haul, the nets did not break.

The point that Luke seems to make is that following Jesus on his way will entail a completely different life style, will call for a different set of priorities. Where Simon and the others were focusing on fish (material, temporary, passing things), Jesus calls them to focus on people (spiritual, permanent, things that last).