In today’s Gospel Jesus continues his Sermon on the Mount by calling his disciples to a “greater righteousness.” In his programmatic statement Jesus warns his disciples: “I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not...
In today’s Gospel a Jewish scribe asks Jesus a question that I am sure all of us have asked at one time or another: “Which is the first of all the commandments?” A Jewish scribe is one who has studied the Scripture and perhaps even memorized it. He might feel a...
In today’s Gospel Jesus teaches us that God is a living God: “He is not God of the dead but of the living.” Jews, Christians, and Moslems all believe in the same God, the God revealed to Moses: “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” “The...
In today’s Gospel Jesus retells the parable of the vineyard from Isaiah 5 and then quotes Psalm 118 to interpret his rejection by some of the Jewish leaders. Jesus teaches that he is the rejected stone that has become the cornerstone: “The stone that the builders...
In today’s first reading from 1 Peter the author reflects on the meaning of our baptism, the meaning of being born again or born anew. It is the Word of God that gives us this new life: “You have been born anew, not from perishable but from imperishable seed, through...
