1 March 2004
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Matthew 13:44Jesus proclaimed God’s Reign or Kingdom. Still more: he made visible the first signs of its coming. If God reigns, then evil, suffering, sin and absurdity are no longer in charge. Praise and gratitude replace lamentation, bitterness and weeping. The one who announces the coming of the Kingdom and introduces it into the world leaves people in his wake who sing and express their joy. If God reigns, then creation is healed and can find meaning once again. People stand up and walk. A communion with the God of life and joy is (...)
1 February 2004
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Genesis 39:20 – 40:7Joseph stayed in prison (39,20): could he fall any lower? First he lost his tunic as a son to his brothers, and then his tunic as a slave at the hands of his master Potiphar’s wife (39:12). Joseph seems to be in a situation with no way out. As a slave he has no rights. It would not be surprising if Joseph rejected his faith in God and withdrew into feeling sorry for himself.
The Lord was with Joseph (39:2,21,23): this refrain is repeated, even if Joseph’s situation becomes gloomy and hopeless. And yet the Lord’s presence (...)
1 January 2004
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Genesis 37:22,31-35When Joseph’s brothers plot to kill him, one of them, Reuben, tries to save Joseph. He is Jacob’s oldest son, the brother who is responsible, the one who has to respond to his father for Joseph.
When Jacob learns from his sons their false story about Joseph’s death, he is inconsolable. All the evil done to Joseph now falls on his head. That recalls a situation from the distant past. Jacob himself was the son who lied to his father Isaac. To receive his father’s blessing instead of his brother, he used the garments of his (...)
1 December 2003
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Mark 15:39Seeing how Jesus died, the centurion, who was standing in front of him, said, “This man was truly Son of God!” (Mark 15:39)
How could it happen that, in Mark’s Gospel, the Roman officer responsible for the execution of Jesus is the first one to recognize and to proclaim that he was Son of God?
This professional accustomed to using force in military campaigns and missions to keep order knows that, in dealing with violent people, it is necessary to be strong and self-controlled. Otherwise, you collapse or you lose control of yourself (...)
1 November 2003
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12The reader who discovers this “fourth song of the Servant” today is seized with astonishment at this detailed account, written several centuries in advance, of what Jesus accomplished by giving his life on the cross.
It confirms that Jesus was part of a line of believers who discerned the fulfillment of God’s will in a different direction from the coming of a political messiah or other-worldly mysticism. God invites us to recognize his plan and take part in it in the midst of a world wounded by violence.
The excessive evil (...)
1 October 2003
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Matthew 17:1-8Midway to Jerusalem where he will be put to death on a cross, Jesus takes with him three of his closest disciples and climbs a mountain, referred to in the text as a “high mountain.” You can already sense that something outside the ordinary will take place there. Jesus is changed in front of them; his face shines and his garments become like light. It is as if, for an instant, a veil is lifted and the disciples can see all of God’s light shining through him.
Suddenly Moses and Elijah are present, speaking with Jesus. They too (...)
1 September 2003
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Exodus 33:18-23Among the different figures the Bible presents to us, Moses has a special place. According to the account of his call (Exodus 3:1-12), he is the first to have understood how close God is to human beings. Moses’ life is changed when he learns that God is familiar with the suffering of his people who are slaves in Egypt and wants to give them a new future. The history of salvation begins, and it continues down to our day. God asks Moses to walk with his people in order to bring them out of the land of bondage. And so they (...)
1 August 2003
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)2 Timothy 1:3-12“Fan into flame the gift of God that is in you,” wrote Saint Paul to his beloved co-worker, Timothy. In each of us God has placed a gift. But, like coals burning under the ashes, sometimes God’s gift remains hidden. The challenge is to reveal it.
By praying, we can begin to discern the gift God has placed in us. In the silence of our heart, we discover that all God asks us is to welcome the gift of his love.
But it is also true that others can awaken the gift of God in us. When we look at ourselves, it can happen that we only (...)
1 July 2003
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)John 21:1-14A familiar scene. The Sea of Tiberias, a group of fishermen. They work the whole night long but catch nothing. It as if we are at the beginning of the gospel (cf. Luke 5:1-11). And yet there is a difference. They have already known Christ and lived with him. They have listened to his teaching, seen his miracles. They have placed all their hope in him and now apparently everything is over.
Confronted by this failure, the disciples do not know what to do. So they try to go back to what they know best, fishing. Perhaps that makes (...)
1 June 2003
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Mark 1:1-8At the beginning of Mark’s Gospel we meet John the Baptist. He opens the door of the New Covenant by inviting people to a baptism of repentance. He recognizes in Jesus the one who is to come. And yet his faith is not without worry. In prison, before being put to death, he still asks, “Are you the one who is to come or should we wait for someone else?” (Matt 11:2-3).
Our faith is like that of John. Even if we believe in Christ and root our lives in the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are still waiting for the one who is to come. In this (...)