Scripture Reflections for the Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time

“God is so confident that we can overcome the temptations set us by the devil, that he never gives up on us, even at times when we might be tempted to give up on ourselves!”

“To struggle is better than being despondent or self-righteously to sit on the sidelines criticising those involved in the struggle”

“The Kingdom of heaven means healing, it means liberation, but it also means connection. Through Christ, we are connected to God and to other people in a communion that transcends the usual divisions of the world.”

“Jesus is not founding an institution but restoring the integrity of humanity”

“We can be sure that, just as the exaltation of Jesus sprang from his obedient love, so it will be with us; from the pain and even the wreckage of our human existence, there will be a transformation to eternal life and happiness.”

“Christians don’t opt out of the hard world. We live in it, but in an important sense, we’re not part of it, because we’ve been freed from the hardness in ourselves, so that for us, everything is possible.”

“Jesus is making a powerful statement here about who we listen to and it reminds me of the Good Samaritan story, a story of an outsider showing us that it's not always those in the in-group or the expected who show us how to love and how to live the gospel message”

“Thank God for Jesus’ example and call to: “heal the brokenhearted, bind up their wounds,” and thank God for the many who support us. We all do what we can, with the power Jesus gives.”

“God IS doing something very new. He is making healing an ordinary event.”

“It is precisely by going beyond what people expected of him that Jesus accomplished his saving mission”

“If the incarnate son of God needed to seek solitude to commune with the Father, how much more so do we?”

“We need to use our talents and be generous with them since we have been called to be disciples. We may not have the gift of healing, but our presence and love start a spiritual process in those we touch.”

“God heals the brokenhearted. But it takes prayer. He can heal you. He can heal all of us, sometimes physically, always spiritually. It’s all in His time and in His way. The journey won’t be easy, but nothing worthwhile never is, nor should it be.”

“To me, the most important dimension of Christian discipleship is healing. What distills from the Gospel miracles is not that Jesus is some sort of esoteric magician who can solve all of life’s problems, but rather that He is the one who brings healing and hope into the most abject human situations.”

“In today’s reading, prayer is the way that Jesus finds continuous strength to fulfill his ministry. Indeed, there is great peace and comfort in spending time alone with God and this gives a person the strength to respond in a world with so many needs.”

“Clichés may dull one’s life, but there are no clichés in Christ”

“We can become so absorbed in our various immediate activities as to forget the wider life we were made to enjoy”

“in order to be changed, we must come before the Lord as the people we really are. When we give to God our anger, God can heal it. When we give to God our doubt and emptiness, God can fill it. When we complain to the Lord that we are desperate and without hope, we open the door for salvation.”

“the more you are in touch with God the more devoted to love you will be. Or better, the more that divine love will start flowing through you into the world.”

“Friends, what if the dominant concern of your life is bringing people to Christ?”

“God shows Job how little he understands of God's overall design and purpose. He reminds Job that his suffering is a tiny ingredient in a plan that includes the whole of space and the whole of time.”

“Paul has been seized by the Lord Jesus Christ in such a way that he must proclaim him. It's a compulsion, 'I'm ruined if I do not preach it.' It's an obligation that has rooted itself in his very blood and bones.”