Neli ML

  Tenth Sunday After Pentecost. August 17, 2025. Lucas 12:49-56 Rev. Neli Miranda   Fire, division, hypocrites! These are harsh words to hear from Jesus in today’s Gospel. To understand their meaning, we must place ourselves with Jesus on his journey to Jerusalem. Time is short, opposition is intensifying, the cross is approaching, and many still fail to understand the urgency of his message. From the beginning of his proclamation, Jesus has faced the opposition and rejection of the Jewish leadership, yet, he continues his proclamation and “has set his face to go to Jerusalem” (9:51). This journey to the religious and political center of Israel is a point of no return. He knows it would lead to his execution, having already told his disciples, “ The Son of Man [He himself] must undergo great suffering and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes and be killed . . .” (9,51) . It is in this context of intense, anxious movement toward the fulfillment of ...

Ninth Sunday After Pentecost 2025 Luke 12:32-40 Revd. Neli Miranda   Last Sunday we reflected on the parable of the rich fool who, in his desire to accumulate wealth for himself, was unaware that his life would be demanded of him that very night. In light of this, Jesus offers us a crucial exhortation: “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” This message continues to resonate in our hearts today, emphasizing that “. . .life does not consist in the abundance of possessions” (12,15). Today, Jesus deepens his teaching on possessions. Before we delve into today’s Gospel, let us recall the verses that immediately precede it, where Jesus encourages us not to worry or be anxious about our material needs. He assures us that God, like a loving father, knows our needs and provides for them: “. . . do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying… your ...

  Eighth Sunday after Pentecost Luke 12:13-21 Rev. Neli Miranda In today’s Gospel, we encounter a man who approaches Jesus, demanding intervention in the distribution of a family inheritance : “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me” (12,13). Jesus’s response is both swift and revealing : “Friend, who appointed me a judge or arbitrator over you?” (12,14).   He quickly shifts from the legal issue to the deeper spiritual concern at hand. The man, likely the younger brother seeking his one-third share under Judaic law, wants a mediator for his financial dispute. Instead of taking sides, Jesus turns to his disciples and the surrounding crowd with a warning. Having just taught them, in the previous verses, what and whom to fear, he adds a new danger to the list: greed. "Watch out!" he says, "Be on your guard against all kinds of greed" (12,15). He identifies greed as a corrosive force, a form of idolatry where the self is placed at the ...