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 (...)
1 September 2006
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Matthew 20: 20-28In every culture there is a system of honoring some of its selected members, distinguishing them from others by means of titles, clothes, posts or material advantages. In both West and East, human beings try to acquire more honor or influence in a given group. The problem is that some use every means possible to acquire them. The struggle for power and various forms of intrigue – manifest or hidden – exist in all human societies. Even the apostles were not totally exempt from it.
Jesus’ teaching on power is clear and even (...)
1 August 2006
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Jeremiah 2: 1-13These disconcerting words, in which God seems to be speaking angrily against his people, are in fact a sign of his profound concern for them.
Jeremiah brings God’s message at a period of crisis. Its aim is to help them see where their real security lies, to realize that their true identity and their long-term well-being depend on their relationship with God.
The problem is that the people have tended to neglect this life-giving relationship or “covenant” in favour of other things, particularly the worship of “idols” or of (...)
1 July 2006
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Matthew 16: 24-26In contemporary society where “self-realization” is encouraged and glorified, Jesus’ teaching of “self-denial” is a real challenge. Some may ask: Is denying oneself not losing oneself? What remains if one denies oneself? Is taking up the cross really necessary? Are there no other effective ways of being disciples of Jesus? But Jesus’ words are so clear. He warns sharply against the danger of losing what is most precious for immediate gain. Should we not understand the perplexing word “to deny oneself” as meaning to give the (...)
1 June 2006
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Hebrews 1:1-4Some think that the introduction to the Letter to the Hebrews, which is in fact one long Greek sentence, is the best constructed text in the entire New Testament. The author centers his reflections on the mystery of Christ, the Son of God and the culmination of God’s self-revelation. But if Christ is the high-point of revelation, this does not disqualify all the other ways in which God has communicated throughout the ages. For his part the author has in mind the history of the people of Israel recounted in Scripture, but could (...)
1 May 2006
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Jeremiah 1:4-10Who is the prophet Jeremiah? A man who, one day, when he was very young, discovered a call from God deep in his heart. That call turned his life upside down. In it Jeremiah found the meaning of his life. He constantly returned it to face the trials of his existence and to go forward.
Although God called other prophets through a vision, like Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1-3) or Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1), in the case of Jeremiah it was different. God spoke a “word” (v. 4) to him, an inner word set in his heart, in the depths of his being, even (...)
1 April 2006
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)John 12: 20-28We can discover in this scene described by Saint John an account of a temptation Jesus experienced in Jerusalem. His life is seriously threatened (see John 11:53) and then all of a sudden people come from a different world than that of Israel, and these Greeks are interested in him. Who knows? Perhaps they will listen to his message in a more sympathetic and far-reaching way. Perhaps something more universal can begin. All Jesus would have to do would be to turn away from what seems doomed to failure and to refuse what is in (...)
1 March 2006
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Numbers 11:24-30In the course their long journey in the wilderness, Moses and the people of Israel passed through many different stages and crises. Chapter 11 of the book of Numbers recounts one of the most important of these. Having to deal with the complaints of the people, which are becoming more and more strident, Moses realizes that his responsibilities have become too heavy for him. So he gathers together a group of seventy respected men to help him. He asks God to support them in their task by giving them the Spirit. But two of the (...)