1 January 2005
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Genesis 2:8-9,15-17God places the human being he has just created in a magnificent garden, with the tree of life at the centre. What better way to show that God desires the fullness of life for us, that we are made for happiness? And this happiness does not consist only in leisure: Adam is placed in the garden “to till it and keep it.” Work is a means of collaborating with God.
But the tree of life is shadowed by another tree: “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” In Biblical terms, this means “the tree of knowing how to live a good (...)
1 December 2004
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Matthew 5:9Matthew undoubtedly was intentionally vague in this beatitude. Peacemakers? In what sense? Where? This lack of precision on the author’s part leaves readers free to think about their own situation and about the challenge to be peacemakers there.
The accent is placed on taking the initiative to create peace. The beatitude does not refer to those who merely love peace or who are naturally peaceable, but to those who stand up, leaving behind personal comfort, to do the work of peace.
Peacemakers consent to the consequences of their (...)
1 November 2004
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Psalm 65It is not sure how the first verse of this psalm should be translated. Some versions have understood that even silence is praise for God. In fact, in this psalm, God “calm[s] the turmoil of the seas, the turmoil of their waves and the uproar of the nations.” God silences all that threatens his people. And this psalm, which sings so admirably about forgiveness, could also cause us to understand that God has the power to silence remorse. Other versions translate that praise rightfully belongs to God, resembling him, and this too is (...)
1 October 2004
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Mark 1:16-20“As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon’s brother, who were casting their net into the sea…” (Mark 1:16). A few simple words to describe Jesus’ activity, but what activity! Jesus does not give people an appointment elsewhere. He goes right to where people are busy working and earning their living. And from the beginning, he finds people ready to walk with him and share his life. Through them God’s Reign, announced by Jesus in the previous verses, begins to take flesh. People seem to be waiting (...)
1 September 2004
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Deuteronomy 7:7-9There are Bible passages that sum up, in a few lines, a powerful and essential teaching. One of these is found in the seventh chapter of the Book of Deuteronomy. Speaking to the assembly of the people of Israel, Moses tells how God “set his heart” on them and “chose” them. God “redeemed” them from slavery and will continue to love those who “love him and keep his commandments.”
To “set one’s heart on” and “choose” someone means uniting our life to theirs. It means sharing someone’s fate because we want what is good for them, because (...)
1 August 2004
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Mark 2:1-12It is not only the body that needs healing, but above all the spirit. Jesus shows this by healing a paralyzed man who is brought to him. The man does not say a single word. Jesus takes the initiative and tells him, “My son, your sins are forgiven.”
Jesus sees that the first thing the man needs is inner healing. Often our inner wounds paralyze us. The forgiveness that Jesus offers restores full human dignity to the paralyzed man, enabling him to “get up” and remain standing. Forgiveness is a liberation.
The paralyzed man did not (...)
1 July 2004
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Isaiah 40:1-11In a dark period in the history of his people, God became present through his prophet Isaiah. The message of the Book of Consolation (Isaiah chapters 40-55) is clear: although the nation is in exile and feels abandoned, God is listening and responds to their prayer by sending a prophet to announce that the end of their misfortune is near.
The announcement begins with the word “comfort,” not just once but twice. God is not against his people, as their suffering might lead us to believe. On the contrary, we are his people (40:1) (...)
1 June 2004
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Luke 10:38-42Martha wishes to be hospitable, and so she begins at once to serve her guests so that they lack nothing. Then, seeing that she is overwhelmed by all she wanted to accomplish, she begins to worry and hardens her heart to her sister, who had left her all alone. Jesus tells Martha that she accords too much importance to and worries about things that may not be so essential.
Jesus does not criticize the service Martha wants to offer him. He knows that she is preparing all these things for love. And it is perhaps with deep (...)
1 May 2004
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Genesis 4:1-16The passage tells us that the two brothers bring to God their offering, the fruit of their labour, and that God “had regard for Abel and his offering but did not have regard for Cain and his offering.” We could ask why. For what reason does God not look at these two brothers in the same way? Why does God not accept Cain’s offering? The text gives no answer to this question. As in so many situations, we are invited to deal with a fact that has taken place without knowing the causes that led to it.
We may wonder if it is really (...)
1 April 2004
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)John 9Why was this man born blind? Jesus is asked this question by disciples convinced that there is a link between the condition of the man born blind and his behavior or that of his parents. Seeing things in this way places God on the side of the causes, makes him responsible for reality as it is, including the evil that mars it. It was tempting to see things in such a simple fashion. But already at the time of the First Testament, people realized that this kind of answer, even if it served the cause of monotheism, was insufficient and (...)