1 July 2007
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Ezekiel 17:22-24: The eagles and the cedarThis is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches. All the trees of the field will know that I the LORD bring down the tall tree and make (...)
1 June 2007
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Mark 6:6b-13: Bringing Good NewsThen Jesus went around teaching from village to village. Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits. These were his instructions: "Take nothing for the journey except a staff— no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them." They (...)
1 May 2007
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Ephesians 3:14-19: Jesus Christ, space of freedomWhat intimidates us? What restrains our movement forward and curbs our freedom? What brings us to the point of calling it into doubt? It is useful to have these questions in mind while reading our passage and several other ones in the Letter to the Ephesians.
Those for whom this text was destined seem to believe that they are subject to the influence of forces beyond God’s control. The prophets had experienced similar struggles when the people turned towards idols. In the Letter to the (...)
1 April 2007
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Genesis 28:11-15: A Message from HeavenFar away in the wilderness, after having escaped from his brother’s anger, Jacob is moved by a dream. He sees angels going up and down on a “staircase”. Going up, the angels carry to God the fear, the guilt feelings and the suffering of Jacob. Going down, they bring to Jacob God’s presence, God’s words and promise (v. 13-15).
What does Jacob discover through his dream? Above all, that God speaks personally to him. Up to that point Jacob did not have any personal experience of God. Earlier, he spoke to his (...)
1 March 2007
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Matthew 4:1-11: Jesus Put to the TestSet between the baptism of Jesus and the beginning of his public life, the account of the temptations occupies a key place in the gospels. Jesus is brought by the Spirit of God into the desert and, after he fasts for forty days (a number that recalls the trials in the past life of God’s people), the tempter comes and confronts him. There are almost no descriptive features of this malevolent figure to stimulate our imagination, but instead several names to express the significance of the act: “Tempter” (...)
1 February 2007
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Psalm 137Israel’s love for its God gave it the honesty to express everything, even the most impassioned reactions at the situations of injustice often experienced by that tiny nation surrounded by powerful neighbors. Has any other people ever gone to such an extreme in its intimacy with God, to the point of daring to express rebellion in the very midst of praise? Psalm 137 weaves these two sentiments together with impressive intensity.
For us today, placidly seated in our comfortable societies, the violence that springs from the cry of the (...)
1 January 2007
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Genesis 12: 1-4Beginning with chapter 12, the book of Genesis recounts the origins of the people of Israel, starting with the story of Abraham. Before this story, the biblical author places a short account of the origins of the world (chapters 1 to 11). Does he intend to write a complete history of humankind? No, but to emphasize strongly that the God of Israel, worshipped by Abraham, is not the god of one nation only with a limited sphere of activity, but instead the Creator of all things, the Lord of the universe.
This is the God who (...)
1 December 2006
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Galatians 3: 27-28In order to have points of reference, to find their place, to be reassured, human beings organize the world into categories; they classify and define. Some find their identity in opposition to others. For Christians, that world has come to an end in Christ. “There is no longer ‘Jew or Greek,’ ‘slave or free’….” We would err if we thought that Paul was simply speaking about a change in the way of seeing the world, a different viewpoint by which we free ourselves from prejudices and open up to reality to a greater extent. Some (...)
1 November 2006
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Exodus 19: 1-8After liberating them from slavery in Egypt, God leads the Israelites into the wilderness. There is nothing to do there, nothing to see, nobody else. It is the place where an encounter with God is possible. God calls the nation to bear witness to himself, inviting it to recognize the divine presence and will in its history.
Then God reveals to the Israelites his desire for an even deeper intimacy with them, which he himself cannot decide or bring about but for which they have to be responsible. God does not simply want to be (...)
1 October 2006
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)2 Corinthians 5:14 -21A brother who lives in Brazil comments on this text as seen from his vantage-point:
At the beginning of the Church, Christians of Jewish background leapt over the wall that separated them from those from other backgrounds. This meant for them giving up some strict dietary and behavioral rules; it broadened the way they conceived their relationship with God. During the following two millennia, in their practice and teaching, Christians did not always show such boldness in integrating cultural differences.
In Brazil, a (...)