Author: jcgosj

“WHAT ARE FRIENDS FOR?” (Mk 2:1-12):  18 January 2008 (Friday)

Today’s Reading

Perhaps one of the best known portrayals of friendship in recent times is the friendship between Frodo and Samwise, the hobbits in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Ring” trilogy.  As they went through their great and dangerous adventures together, Sam proved himself to be an extraordinary friend.  In “The Fellowship of the Ring,” when Frodo was going to leave the rest of the Fellowship, Sam insisted on following his friend and continuing to serve as companion and protector to him.  

‘WHERE ARE THE LEPERS AMONG US?’ (Mk 1:40-45):  17 January 2008 (Thursday)

Today’s Reading

There is something about the behavior of our Lord in the gospel story that has always bewildered me:  He tells the leper not to tell anyone that he has healed him, and yet almost in the same breath, he asks the leper to show himself to the priest.

This sounds like false modesty, but it’s not.  Our Lord really does not want people to know of his healing powers, and the reason for this, biblical scholars tell us, is that he doesn’t want people to overreact and misunderstand his mission, and make him a political messiah.

“DO YOU EVER GET TIRED?” (Mk 1:29-39): 16 January 2008 (Wednesday)

oday’s Readings

There is a scene in the rock opera “Jesus Christ Superstar” (1973), where a crowd of sick people suddenly appear out of nowhere singing a litany of their woes and illnesses.  They crowd around Jesus as they beg him to heal them, chanting repeatedly in an almost maddening fashion: 

“Will you touch, will you mend me, Christ?
Won’t you touch, will you heal me, Christ?
Will you kiss, you can heal me, Christ
Won’t you kiss, won’t you pay me, Christ?” 

“HAVE YOU COME TO DESTROY US?” (Mk 1:21-28):  15 January 2008 (Tuesday)

Reading:  www.nccbuscc.org/nab/011508.shtml

I saw “Dead Man Walking” almost ten years ago, but it remains one of the most powerfully moving and disturbing films I’ve ever seen.  It’s about a true-to-life Louisiana nun, Sister Helen Prejean (Susan Sarandon), who momentarily interrupts her work with inner city children when she receives a letter from Matthew Poncelet (Sean Penn), a prisoner on death row for rape and murder.  She visits him only to find that the prisoner is far from likable or repentant: He is rough, insolent, and is a liar.  Despite all this–and to the horror of the victims’ families–Sr. Prejean campaigns against capital punishment, insisting that no one deserves to be killed–even for the most heinous crimes.

“WHAT ARE YOU FISHING FOR?” (Mk 1:14-20):  14 January 2008 (Monday)

Reading:  www.nccbuscc.org/nab/011408.shtml

More than twenty years ago,  I worked as a brand manager in a food manufacturing company, and was assigned to marketing the ready-to-drink juices–the type that came in bottles and tetra briks.  On my first couple of months, I was eager to learn everything about the job, so I decided to get a first-hand experience of how market research was done.  One morning I joined a team of researchers that went door to door to survey the brands of juices found in different households in Little Baguio, San Juan.  I watched the team interview whoever opened the door for us.  On maybe the fourth house, an unforgettable wide-eyed girl opened the door, and very graciously agreed to undergo the interview.