1 February 2006
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Matthew 15:21-28Trust is a key reality in the gospel. This trust is expressed by our “yes” to Christ, our “yes” to the will of God. It is a humble trusting. We accept even things or situations that we do not understand. But are there sometimes also times when trust is expressed by a “no”?
One day, a Canaanite woman came to Jesus asking for her daughter to be healed. Jesus pays no attention to her request. First he does not even answer her, and then he gives a reply that seems insulting to a non-Jewish woman: “It is not right to take bread from (...)
1 January 2006
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Romans 4:1-12Writing to the Romans, Saint Paul takes up the question “what makes us just?” in other words what makes us people who have a right relationship with God and consequently with others. He insists that we do not have a good relationship with God because of anything we have done. This relationship is not a reward we earn for work well done. It is a gift, freely offered by God to all, independently of their achievements.
To support his argument, Paul uses the example of Abraham, considered by the Jews as their forefather and a model (...)
1 December 2005
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Luke 6:46-49As elsewhere in the Gospels (Matthew 7:21), Jesus stresses the necessary link between how we think and speak, and the way we live our life. When our words are in harmony with the substance of our life, they take on a solidity which tells both the speaker and the listener of their truth. People experienced this with Jesus, and not only his friends (see John 7:46). On the other hand, rootless words which are not confirmed by the substance of our lives are misleading. Like a house without foundations, they give an impression of (...)
1 November 2005
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Acts 10:1-48The importance of this long chapter cannot be overestimated. Peter visits the home of a pagan and even shares a meal with him, at the risk of being excluded as unclean by contagion!
In order to allow the Good News to reach the ends of the earth, the first Christians did not invent a strategy. Rather, they let themselves be led by events, convinced that God is at work in history. Persecution scattered them into Samaria, and that led them already to proclaim the Gospel in a foreign land.
But how could the centuries-old barrier (...)
1 October 2005
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Mark 3:31-35In this passage, Christ uses a small incident as a starting-point to express something important about what it means to be close to him. His family, worried by the unexpected course his life is taking, come looking for him. When their arrival is announced, he responds with a startling question: Who are my mother and my brothers?
In the silence that follows, he looks around at the crowd about him, letting his words sink in.
Our family, our near relatives. What does this really mean? It suggests those who are close to us, and (...)
1 September 2005
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Psalm 16Someone who possesses nothing discovers he has everything because he has God. Psalm 16 could be summed up quite well in those words. The believer who expresses himself here undoubtedly possesses nothing because he belongs to the tribe of Levi, which did not receive its portion of the Promised Land, because that tribe was devoted to the service of God.
The fact of possessing nothing could have led to bitterness or to extreme insecurity. The author of the psalm discovers just the opposite. But when he says: “I bless the Lord who (...)
1 August 2005
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)John 21:15-17Peter was depressed after he disowned Jesus three times on the eve of the Passion. When the risen Jesus meets Peter again, however, he questions him not about what he has done but about what is deepest and truest in him, about his love. He knows that this has not disappeared in Peter, in spite of everything.
After each question, Jesus entrusts Peter with a responsibility. Precisely this weak and sinful person is loved and is called to respond. Anyone who takes on responsibilities in the communion of the Church has to discover (...)
1 July 2005
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)1 Corinthians 1:18-25This passage is surprising, paradoxical, difficult. We can allow it to explain itself through some questions it asks us.
1. What is human wisdom? Could it perhaps be defined as the art of living well in order to be happy? Then folly would mean heading towards failure and unhappiness. Still, we need to know where happiness is found, and discover that realistically speaking it is not possible to be happy all alone, without others.
2. Why does Saint Paul speak so negatively about this wisdom? Because it was in the name (...)
1 June 2005
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Luke 14:12-14Using the example of the people we invite to the parties we organize, Jesus reminds us that the overflowing life of God’s Kingdom goes far beyond anything we can imagine and accomplish, even were we to manage our life, our resources and our relationships in the most prudent and judicious way possible.
God gives, with no strategy or keeping of accounts. He aspires to awaken in human beings someone like himself who enters into fellowship with him. The primary motivation in God’s Kingdom is the joy of unconditional giving. We are (...)
1 May 2005
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Nehemiah 9:16-19These few lines from the Book of Nehemiah sum up Bible history in a striking fashion, with an astounding revelation as the key: even when misunderstood, unloved and rejected, the God of the Bible continues to love each person to the very end; God never abandons anyone, no matter what happens. This revelation is all the harder for human beings to accept since, when they are unable to reconcile themselves to certain facets of their personality and their past, they often find it hard to feel that they are worthy of being (...)