Neli ML

  Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 Rev. Neli Miranda             After six weeks of reading and reflecting on chapter 6 of the Gospel of John, we now return to the Gospel of Mark. In Mark, we witness that Jesus spends most of his public ministry in Galilee, the northern province of Palestine.   Galilee was distinct from Judea, the southern province where Jerusalem, the capital, was located. Although Galileans and Judeans shared the same ethnic origin, they were different due to their distinct history, geography, and culture. The Judeans despised their northern neighbors, believing themselves to be an ethnically and religiously pure people. While Judeans prided themselves for their “ethnic purity”, Galileans lived among a mixed population and in close proximity to Gentiles.   Judeans were also in closer proximity and adherence to the Jerusalem temple and religious authorities while Galileans, living farther from Jerusalem, were seen as more lax in their

  Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost 2024 John 6, 51-58 Rev. Neli Miranda   Today, as we continue reading John Chapter 6, we find Jesus revealing himself as the living bread that descended from heaven. Following the feeding of the five thousand with bread and fish, Jesus spoke about the food that endures for eternal life and urged his followers, “Do not work for the food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man [Jesus] will give you” (6,27).   In the Gospel of John, the concept of eternal life transcends a mere perpetuation of life after death; it signifies a full life, an intimate communion with God that begins in the present. Jesus, the provider of this gift, invites his listeners to believe in him and partake of the bread he offers to experience this profound relationship with God. Here, Jesus transitions the discourse from the physical bread he distributed among the multitude of five thousand to the bread from heaven he embodies fo

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost – Sunday, August 4, 2024 John 6:24-35 Rev. Neli Miranda   Today, we continue reading John’s account of the events following the feeding of the five thousand. Most of these people returned home satisfied. They had been filled with the Word of God and with the bread and fish distributed by Jesus and his disciples. Some among them also experienced healing at the hands of Jesus, returning home full in body and spirit. However, as John recounts, some of them continued looking for Jesus and followed him to Capernaum, seemingly drawn by the prospect of continued physical sustenance rather than by understanding the liberating message of the Kingdom of God. The Roman government had a practice that kept the large crowds pacified by offering them free food and “entertainment” at the Colosseum a practice known as “bread and circus”. While bread is sacred and a fundamental human right, here it was used as a tool of control, providing temporary relief while per