Daughters of St Paul | Daily Gospel Reflections

Reading : Am 9:11-15 Gospel Mt 9:14-17 The disciples of John approached Jesus and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”  Reflection:  Fasting is one of the most powerful spiritual disciplines. Through fasting and prayer, the Holy Spirit can transform our life. It is one of the many acts of penance by which one pays for the debts of one’s own sins and for those of others’  and enters into a closer relationship with God. Pharisees had los...

 Reading : Am 8:4-6, 9-12 Gospel Mt 9:9-13 As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed him. While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" He heard this and said, "Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners." Reflection: Jesus did not do anything according to the standard of this world nor according to the thinking of the people. That is why he called Mathew a tax collector, a man the Jews could never accept, a man labled as a public sinner, to follow him. Mathew celebrates his call and so invites Jesus and his disciples as well as his friends. But the Pharisees c...

Reading : Am 7:10-17 Gospel Mt 9:1-8 After entering a boat, Jesus made the crossing, and came into his own town. And there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Courage, child, your sins are forgiven." At that, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming." Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said, "Why do you harbor evil thoughts? Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"– he then said to the paralytic, "Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home." He rose and went home. When the crowds saw this they were struck with awe and glorified God who had given such authority to men. Reflection: A person's sspirit  becomes crippled because of sin. It blurs one's eyes not to see and covers one's ears not to listen to...

 Reading 1  EPH 2:19-22 Gospel JN 20:24-29 Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But Thomas said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” Reflections: Today, on the Solemnity of the Apostle of India, our hearts should rise in thanksgiving, first of all, to Jesus who sent Thoma...

 Reading Am 3:1-8; 4:11-12 Gospel  Mt 8:23-27 As Jesus got into a boat, his disciples followed him. Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by waves; but he was asleep. They came and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us!  We are perishing!” He said to them, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?” Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm. The men were amazed and said, “What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?” Reflection: “Why are you so afraid?” Jesus asked his disciples. We, too, often find ourselves in similar situations of danger and fear. We are afraid because we fail to realize who is with us. Jesus is the only one who has the power to save us from all dangers and evils, and he is with us. Our life is bound to have moments of storms of various kinds. But if we have strong faith in the one who promised us to be with us till the end of the world we shall not be afraid of a...

 Reading: Am 2:6-10, 13-16 Gospel  Mt 8:18-22 When Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other shore. A scribe approached and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus answered him, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head." Another of his disciples said to him, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father." But Jesus answered him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead." Reflections: Matthew 8: 18-22 Reflection: Having seen the miracles Jesus worked and the crowd he draws, a scribe wants to follow him in the hope of gathering riches. Jesus discourages him, “Don’t you see that I have no place to rest which even the birds have? I am without the warmth of a house.” Another wants to bury his father, that is, to stay at home as long as his father is alive and absolve himself of his duties towards him when he dies, and then follow Jesus. The Lord ...

Reading1: Wis 1:13-15; 2:23-24,  Reading2: 2 Cor 8:7, 9, 13-15 Gospel  Mk 5: :21-24, 35b-43 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea. One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying, "My daughter is at the point of death. Please, come lay your hands on her that she may get well and live." He went off with him, and a large crowd followed him and pressed upon him. While he was still speaking, people from the synagogue official's house arrived and said, "Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?" Disregarding the message that was reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official, "Do not be afraid; just have faith." He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official, he c...