Audio Divina

Who is my neighbour?   A lawyer wishes to get the better of Jesus. Is Jesus able to give one Law that gives eternal life? He provides that law of love of God and neighbor, but the lawyer insists - who is my neighbour? Jesus shatters his confidence with the parable of the Good Samaritan. The Samaritan is the neighbour who cares, and the lawyer must do likewise. He must behave like a Samaritan, some...

To be a missionary of Jesus:  As Jesus set out for Jerusalem, he instructed his disciples on the cost of discipleship. However, there is more to being a disciple of Jesus. A disciple must also be a missionary: sent out to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom. In today's Gospel Jesus instructs missionary disciples how they are to behave whole on mission. Their most important method of proclaiming the...

Following Jesus to Jerusalem: Today's reading from the Gospel of Luke marks a turning point in his story of Jesus. After his ministry in Galilee, he sets his face to go to Jerusalem, where he will be received into heaven. He does this "resolutely." But a Samaritan village will have nothing to do with such a man, and his disciples do not understand. Jesus must instruct them on the radical nature of...

They all ate, and were filled: We resume the Year of Luke in his account of the multiplication of the loves and fishes. The story tells us of Jesus' ongoing eucharistic presence, always open in the baskets of pieces of bread that remain at the end of the meal. But the meal happens because the disciples do what Jesus asks them to do: "You give them something to eat." He continues to challenge us to...

The Father, his Word, and his Truth:  Easter Season closed with the celebration of the gift of the Holy Spirit. The "Ordinary time of the year" begins with the extraordinary tradition of our triune God. Jesus always looked to his Father. He promised that after his departure, the Father would send the Spirit. We live Christian lives because God has so loved us that he gave us his Son. The Son saved...

The Holy Spirit will teach you everything: The Season of Easter closes in the celebration of the gift of the Holy Spirit, perfecting the gift of the Law at Sinai. A new law, the Law of Jesus, now determines our lives. The role of the Spirit is to keep reminding us of that law, guiding, teaching, and protecting us. We "learn" from the Spirit as we continue to make the challenge of Jesus' person and...

The Ascension of the Lord:  But at the end of the Gospel of Luke, the disciples are full of joy. They have repented and their sins have been forgiven. Jesus gives them final instructions. They are to wait in the city of Jerusalem for the gift of the Spirit. They can now be witnesses to the ends of the earth to what they have experienced - repentance and forgiveness of sin. Jesus departs, and the m...

6th Sunday of Easter:  As Jesus moves further into his Last Discourse with his disciples before his passion, death, and resurrection, he tells them that he must depart from them. But he will come back to them, and dwell with them. There will, however, be a time of absence. In that in-between time, the disciples are instructed on the need to live by the word of Jesus, and promised that they will be...

5th Sunday of Easter: As Judas departs, Jesus cries out in triumph. His moment of glory, his loving self-gift on the cross is at hand. But he will soon be leaving his disciples. They must now face a time when he is no longer with them as he was during his ministry. They must continue his presence by following the new commandment: loving as he has loved. Presented by world-renowned biblical scholar...

Listening to the voice of the Good Shepherd: Within the context of the Jewish celebration of the Feast of the Dedication, marking the return of the Jerusalem Temple to its proper place as a way to God, Jesus presents himself, his word, and his way of life as an authoritative way to God. He has such authority as there no longer need to go to a Temple to find Good; the Father and Jesus are one! Pres...

Do you love me? Feed my sheep!  The Gospel of John closes by drawing the two foundational disciples back into the action. Having given up on Jesus, Peter decides he is going fishing. However, recognised by the Beloved Disciple as "the Lord," Jesus enables a miraculous catch of many fish, a symbol of the universal Church. At the subsequent meal, Peter overcomes his three-fold denial of Jesus by his...

Blessed are those who not see, yet believe: Today's reading focuses upon The risen Jesus' gift of peace and to frightened disciples. Most importantly, it blesses all subsequent disciples who, unlike the first disciples and Thomas, believe without seeing. John wrote his Gospel for them.  Presented by world-renowned biblical scholar Rev. Professor Francis J. Moloney SDB AM, Audio Divina, is a Lectio...

Easter Sunday: Neither Mary Magdalene or the two disciples recognise that Jesus has been raised, even though the see the emptiness of the tomb and the burial cloths. But the Beloved Disciples, even though he does not see Jesus, believes. "Blessed are those who do not see and believe." Presented by world-renowned biblical scholar Rev. Professor Francis J. Moloney SDB AM, Audio Divina, is a Lectio-D...

Holy Saturday: The attention in the account of Easter Sunday morning in Luke's Gospel is given to the fact that an encounter with the risen Jesus will not take place in a graveyard. He has been raised. Look for him elsewhere. The women, and all the disciples are asked to "remember the words" that Jesus had spoken to them about his resurrection from the dead during his ministry. As often in the Gos...

Good Friday:  A story of Jesus' lifting up and enthronement as King on the Cross. Presented by world-renowned biblical scholar Rev. Professor Francis J. Moloney SDB AM, Audio Divina, is a Lectio-Divina styled reflection on the gospel for Good Friday, Year C. Gospel Reading: John 18-19 This week's readers are Jennifer and Chris Narrated and Produced by Br Jeff Miller SDB For more information visit:...

Holy Thursday: Jesus symbolically shows his limitless love for his own in his self-gift for "his own." His loving care for others is the way all his disciples are called to follow. Presented by world-renowned biblical scholar Rev. Professor Francis J. Moloney SDB AM, Audio Divina, is a Lectio-Divina styled reflection on the gospel for Holy Thursday, Year C. Gospel Reading: John 13:1-15 This week's...

Father, forgive them! … "This man was innocent":  Each of the four Gospels tells the story of the Passion of Jesus. But they each tell it in their own way, in an attempt to explain what Jesus' death means for us. Luke's story is highlighted by Jesus' compassion, forgiveness, the missioning of the Church, and above all, the message that Jesus is innocent, someone who does not save himself, but give...

God's Mercy and human frailty meet:  Continuing the theme of compassion, today's account of the woman caught in adultery provides a wonderful portrait of Jesus. For Jesus' opponents, the woman does not matter. She is just a "thing" they can use to try to test Jesus' loyalty to the Law. Jesus cuts through this, drives away the hypocrites, and deals with the woman as a person deserving compassion. I...

A Father who has two Sons:  One of the great literary and theological treasures of Christianity, Jesus' parable about the Father with two sons is not so much about the sons, each one of whom is "lost," but about an amazing Father. As we follow his loving compassion for both his sons, we come to the end of the Parable with the Father - for Jesus, the figure of God, his Father - out in the dark, try...

A God who gives us time: Two themes emerge from today's Gospel. In the first place, responding to the tragedies of the Galileans and the people in Jerusalem, Jesus points out that we are all sinners, and we all have need for repentance. It is not as if bad things only happen to the bad. But then he turns to a parable. The unexpected will happen: the unproductive vine that should be destroyed will...

The Passing Over that Lies Ahead: The account of Jesus' transfiguration before Peter, John, and James is used this week because it instructs disciples on two crucial elements of the Christian faith. On the one hand, Jesus is seen and announced as Son of God. But in Jesus discusses with Elijah and Moses his future "passing over" in Jerusalem. Followers of Jesus must recognise both who Jesus is, and...

The testing of God's Son:  Luke's Gospel has already announced that Jesus is the Son of God - three times. Immediately after providing Jesus' genealogy, showing that Jesus is the Son of God, Satan enters the story - to test whether that is true. Three times he asks Jesus to prove that he is the Son of God. Relying on the Word of God (from the Book of Deuteronomy) Jesus defeats Satan, and he depart...

Ash Wednesday: Jesus instructs his disciples to focus upon the God who makes sense of life and love, rather than themselves and their glory. Presented by world-renowned biblical scholar Rev. Professor Francis J. Moloney SDB AM, Audio Divina, is a Lectio-Divina styled reflection on the gospel for Ash Wednesday Gospel Reading: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 This week's readers are  Julia and Dino Narrated and...

Practice what you preach: Called to live a radical questioning of the establishment compassionately, Jesus closes his Sermon on the Plain by asking that we be authentic, the we be what we are, genuine Christians who try to live and love as Jesus Christ. By practicing what we preach, we show that the true disciple is always like her or his teacher. Presented by world-renowned biblical scholar Rev....

Sermon 2. Be compassionate:  The radical nature of Jesus' preaching in his blessings and woes continues. He next instructs us on how we are to live the radical nature of God's new order: be compassionate as God is compassionate. This may appear weak, but it is the strongest way of all - reflecting God's own never-failing compassion for all, despite our many failures. Presented by world-renowned bi...