We learn so much about our true relationship with God and with other people in these Gospel verses. Perhaps we might say rather, we are reminded of so much, because these are Christian truths we have long been taught and have long known, but which often are neglected and forgotten. We are recalled in these Gospel verses to Christian truth [ … ]

Up until this point, Luke has told us several times that Jesus taught the people, but he has not told us what Jesus was teaching. This is the first time that Luke in his Gospel shares with us the teachings of Jesus. Jesus gives four blessings, four Beatitudes, and four curses. We are drawn to the heart of Jesus’ teaching, and must sharply reflect on what we are taught here [ … ]

Since beginning his ministry, Jesus has called his first disciples to follow him. Now it is time to choose, from his disciples, the twelve who are to be called Apostles, that is those who are to be most especially sent to preach, on mission, and to found and to lead the Church. There are key, notable stages as Jesus constitutes his Church – the Apostles will be fully confirmed in their mission on the day of Pentecost. This is one such important stage [ … ]

Today’s Gospel reading continues to centre upon the debates about the Sabbath, in which Jesus and the Pharisees are involved. While the Pharisees watch Jesus, to see how he might violate the Law, Jesus does not shy away from the healing and redemptive opportunity. Indeed, to challenge the Pharisees in this way is in itself a restorative, a salvific, act. Jesus asks us to consider God’s commandments in the knowledge that God is love. Here is an inmost truth of our relationship with God [ … ]

The Sabbath day, Saturday, was established by God in order to allow the Jewish people a special time to worship, and so therefore to fulfil their purpose and the highest good on Earth, which is to worship God. The Law was established through Moses following upon the release from Egypt, during which time of punishment the people had been prevented from worshipping God. Clearly, God wants us to have time to worship. It is sin when people prevent other people from having such time. This is central to our belief as Christians. The Lord’s Day, Sunday, is sacrosanct. It is our best opportunity in a busy and difficult world to give time to God [ … ]

Jesus fasted in the wilderness for 40 days toward the start of his ministry. This was a time of preparation, while Jesus was tempted by Satan. Matthew’s Gospel account most fully expresses the time of fasting as one in which Jesus declares his assumed humanity to be in accord with his Father’s will, oriented toward God’s saving purpose. Fasting is an aspect of many historical religions. We are asked to fast at particular times, and as we do, in our physical hunger, we may discover a closer relationship with God, even when our fasting can be mentally challenging [ … ]

Luke’s Gospel places the calling of the first disciples after the fame of Jesus has already spread across the region. Simon Peter listens to Jesus’ words, then he experiences the miraculous catch of fish, and then he throws himself down before Jesus, acknowledging his sins and placing his life in Jesus’ hands. This is Simon Peter’s call. He gives away everything he has to follow Jesus [ … ]

When Jesus heals Simon Peter’s mother-in-law, the effect is instant. Not only does the fever leave her immediately, she is able immediately to get up out of bed and to serve Jesus and the other people present. This tells us something of the nature of our own healing, our freeing from sin, by Jesus. We are called and we are enabled to serve. This is our active participation in Christian community. We may recall that the sick were excluded from participation in religious services in Jewish society. Jesus calls the sick home, to be with God [ … ]

The three synoptic Gospels tell us of this episode of Jesus’ life, when he returned home to Nazareth and preached in the synagogue there. Luke’s Gospel gives us the text of Isaiah read by Jesus, in which Jesus’ announces his messianic mission – to bring the good news to the poor, to live and to identify with the poor, to heal us and set us at liberty from sin. As Jesus closes the book, he omits the following from Isaiah 61: 2: ‘…and the day of vengeance of our God.’ This is deliberate interruption. Jesus is not come to maintain old enmities. Jesus’ way is peace. It is the people of all the world who are to be blessed in Christ [ … ]

Capernaum was a small city on the crossroad of two important routes, one from Asia Minor, leading to Petra on the south of the Transjordan, the other from the region of the two rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, descending toward Egypt. Jesus’ move to Capernaum helped his contact with the people, and so the spreading of the Good News [ … ]

The three synoptic Gospels tell us of this episode of Jesus’ life, when he returned home to Nazareth and preached in the synagogue there. Luke’s Gospel gives us the text of Isaiah read by Jesus, in which Jesus’ announces his messianic mission – to bring the good news to the poor, to live and to identify with the poor, to heal us and set us at liberty from sin. As Jesus closes the book, he omits the following from Isaiah 61: 2: ‘…and the day of vengeance of our God.’ This is deliberate interruption. Jesus is not come to maintain old enmities. Jesus’ way is peace. It is the people of all the world who are to be blessed in Christ [ … ]

The crowds gather to see and to hear Jesus. Among them, as Matthew relates in his Gospel (Matthew 12: 38-42), are the scribes and Pharisees, who ask for a sign from Jesus to prove his divinity. Jesus refuses to confirm his preaching with dramatic signs. It is his teaching Jesus wishes the people to hear. Through seeking to taunt Jesus, and through their unbelief, the scribes and the Pharisees express the hardness of their hearts. Christ is present to them and they refuse to see. Christ is speaking to them and they refuse to hear. Through the Gospel, we have witnessed Christ’s miracles. And we are called to hear his word. ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign.’ [ … ]