The Bible Workshop

Reading I: Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:8 Resp. Psalm:  Ps 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14,17 Gospel Reading:  Lk 9:43-45 Qoheleth's Advise to the Young Remember your Creator in the days ...

Reading I: Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 Resp. Psalm: Psalm 144: 1-2, 3-4 Gospel Reading: Luke 9:18-22 The selection from Qoheleth is another classic, this time on time. But the "time" described here is ...

Reading I: Ecclesiastes 1:2-11 Resp. Psalm:  Psalm 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14.17 Gospel Reading:  Luke 9:7-9 The selection from Ecclesiastes (Qoheleth) is a classic on the meaninglessness of existence.  The author draws a very negative picture of ...

I just came back from our group's yearly retreat. This time it was held in the new Spirituality Center being constructed at ToloTolo, Concepcion, Cebu. The retreat was handled by Fr. Robert Dueweke, OSA of the Chicago Province. The retreat lasted from September 22-26. During those days we tried to ...

Angels, answer me,are you near if rain should fall?Am I to believeyou will rise to calm the storm?For so great a treasure words will never do.Surely, if this is, promises are mine to give you.mine to give...Here, all too soon the day!Wish the moon to fall and alter tomorrow.I should ...

The gospel reading from John 1:47–51 is not really about angels but about Jesus as the new Jacob’s Ladder.  How it got paired with the reading from Daniel or Revelation for the Feast of the Archangels is something for experts to explain. In the New Testament, angels are seldom mentioned.  In ...

A video from the ChristianMeditator. It is advertised as a Biblical Meditation and is entitled "When I Open My Eyes". There is another evening meditation entitled "When I Close My Eyes." The meditation is based on bible passages that are strung together and interspersed with suggestions for feel-good self ...

Death is repulsive.  It is not something one wishes for.  Yet from the words of Job we encounter a sobering reality — a reality that we find in those who commit suicide:  that life can become so unbearable that death is sought after. Why is light given to the toilers,and life ...

  Gather round everyone I'll tell you it's a time to help a friend there's much love in the world so share it all around and together we'll win in the ...

Sa misa ay sinasabi ito ng pari: "Ito ang Kordero ng Diyos … Mapapalad ang mga inaanyayahan sa kanyang piging". Ang piging ng Panginoon ay yaon ding piging ng kasalan ng Kordero at ng kanyang Iglesya na binabanggit sa Apokalipsis 19. Sa talinghaga ng Mateo 22:1-14, ito ay ipinahihiwatig ng piging na inihanda ng hari [...]

The theme of the 28th Sunday (OT A) is that of the banquet of the Lord. As such it is a theme that should inspire us to hope. The lines from the first reading which is also quoted in the Revelation of John should whet our appetite for the banquet prepared for us: The Lord [...]

What is a “Sentence Flow”? A sentence flow as we understand it within the context of our bible study sessions is a copy of the biblical passage under study but written in such a way as to highlight through a series of line breaks and indentations the elements of the sentences that compose the passage. A text [...]

Ang talinghaga ng Mateo 21:33-46 ang ikalawang talinghaga na ginamit ni Hesus upang sagutin ang katanungan ng mga punong saserdote at matatanda ng bayan (Mateo 21:23-27) "Saan mo tinanggap ang kapangyarihan mong gawin ang iyong mga ginagawa?". Sa talinghaga ng dalawang magkapatid ipinahiwatig ni Hesus na siya’y hindi makilala ng mga lider na ito dahil [...]

The parable of the wicked tenants in Matthew 21:33-46 has been rewritten as an allegory of salvation history. By skillfully modifying the material he found in Mark, Matthew makes it clearer that the violent response of the wicked tenants to the servants sent by the owner of the vineyard symbolizes the hardness of heart of [...]

Bago dumating ang mambabasa sa bahaging ito ng ebanghelyo ni Mateo, si Hesus ay nakapasok na sa Herusalem, nalinis na niya ang Templo (at gumawa doon ng gulo) at nakita ng mga alagad kung paanong natuyo ang puno ng igos na isinumpa ni Hesus na hindi na makapamumunga uli. Sa muling pagpasok ni Hesus sa [...]

The way of righteousness is dynamic and requires change. We walk, Augustine says, through our affections and our morals (De doctrina chris. I). And we walk in the direction to which the Word of God calls us. Christians cannot be fixated along this way, for the journey’s goal is the new Jerusalem itself and away [...]

Below is this afternoon’s exercise with making a sentence flow on the basis of Matthew 16:21-28. On the basis of this sentence flow, one can immediately see the answers to the following questions about the text: “From that time on…” To which episode is Matthew referring here? Which are the two big sections of the narrative? [...]

Ang Mateo 20:1-16a ay isa sa mga talinghaga ng kaharian (12:1). Ito ay isang interpretasyon na tinalinghaga (midrash na mashal). Ipinapaliwanag nito ang kasabihan sa Mateo 19:30 tungkol sa mga naunang nahuli at nahuling nauna (19:30). Ang talinghaga ay bahagi ng kwentong nag-umpisa sa Mateo 19:16. Pagkatapos pag-aralan ang talinghaga ng may-ari ng ubasan, unawain [...]

Matthew 20:1-16a continues the discourse of Jesus in Matthew 19:28-30 which in turn is linked to the episode of the rich young man. Ultimately, the parable of the owner of the vineyard will have to be understood in the light of this preceding episode and the lesson on discipleship that follows it1. Relevant Links The First [...]

I am working fast to cover the materials until the 26th Sunday of OT Year A. As new posts multiply, the others will be pushed backwards. By mid-September, you might find these posts pushed way way back that they won’t be referenced anymore in this index page. So here they are… Site-Related How To [...]