“As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19)
“Like Mary whose name we bear, we are called to hear the word of God and keep it. Our attentive listening shapes in us a contemplative and prophetic attitude toward the whole of life and enables us to act in ways which witness to God’s love and justice.” (SNDdeN Constitution 47)
Perhaps our reflections on the weekly Gospel will help you nurture your own relationship with God.
Through these reflections on the Gospel Readings for the Sundays and Major Feasts of the Liturgical Year, the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur from various parts of the world share with you their thoughts and ponderings on these Scripture passages. These reflections are posted in the language of the author with links to translation.
These Scripture readings and reflections reveal Glimpses of God’s Goodness in our daily lives. We pray that these reflections will strengthen your faith, renew your hope and enflame the love of God in you, and through you, to others.
Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sister Barbara Thiella SNDdeN
September 24, 2023 Matthew 20: 1-16a RELATIONSHIPS: MINDING AND RESPONDING The Gospel of Matthew 20:1-16a presents Jesus as a traveling rabbi and a healing storyteller who publicly shares his intimate experience of God as his loving Abba. After his...
Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sister Juana Jaqueline Castillo-Salvador,SNDdeN
September 17, 2023 Matthew 18: 21 - 35 Forgiveness as a measure of love. The evangelist Matthew today helps us get in tune with the kind heart of God. He reminds us that to forgive we need to go beyond the limit of what we consider ideal “7 times” and to do so we need...
Vigésimo terceiro domingo do tempo comum – Irma Jane Dwyer, SNDdeN
10 de setembro de 2023 Mateus 18: 15 - 20 Mateus escreve seu Evangelho por volta dos anos 80 a 85, bastante tempo depois do assassinato de Jesus e também durante os anos em que o crescente número de cristãos que enfrentavam conflitos com o Império Romano e a religião...
Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sister Jane Dwyer, SNDdeN
September 10, 2023 Matthew 18: 15 - 20 Matthew writes his Gospel around the years 80 to 85, a fairly long time after the murder of Jesus and also during the years that the growing number of Christians facing conflicts with the Roman Empire and the Jewish religion,...
Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sister Nancy Rowen, SNDdeN
September 3, 2023 Matthew 16: 21-27 Before any serious commitment, we need clarity: What does this offer and what will it require from me? Will it be worth it? Am I able and willing? Today’s Gospel begins, “From that time on… Jesus began to show his disciples….” what...
Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sister Angele Lewis, SNDdeN
August 27, 2023 Matthew 16: 13-20 Today’s reading from Matthew 16: 13-20 shows Jesus using “engaging questions” to draw people, followers, disciples into deeper conversations with Him. Jesus begins by asking a type of “hook” question: “Who do PEOPLE say that the Son...
Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sister Betsy Flynn, SNDdeN
August 20, 2023 Matthew 15: 21-28 The nameless daughter from the region of Tyre and Sidon suffers from the torment of the devil. The frightening experience that the devil has taken possession of her daughter brings the desperate mother to plead with Jesus. She...
Dix-neuvième dimanche du temps ordinaire – Soeur Honorine Yamba, SNDdeN
le 13 août, 2023 Mattieu 14, 22-33 Chaque fois que je me trouve devant ce texte je suis attirée par l'épisode de Pierre qui va vers Jésus. Aujourd'hui ce texte, me touche différemment ; trois moments importants captivent mon attention; 1. Service 2. Prière 3....
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sister Honorine Yamba, SNDdeN
August 13, 2023 Matthew 14: 22-33 Every time I am in touch with this text I am attracted by the episode of Peter as he approaches Jesus. Today this text touches me differently. Three important aspects attract my attention. 1. Service 2. Prayer 3. Encounter 1. Service:...
Feast of the Assumption – Sister Esther Adama, SNDdeN
August 15, 2023 Luke 1: 39-56 Dogmas are the core beliefs about faith. Since the beginning of time, the Church has proclaimed four Marian dogmas: the dogma of the Divine Motherhood known as the Theotokos, the dogma of Mary's Perpetual Virginity, the dogma of the...
Transfiguration of the Lord- Sister Patricia Butler, SNDdeN
August 6, 2023 Matthew 17: 1-9 The story of the Transfiguration helps us to understand the possibility of transformation to which we are all called. Jesus is transformed into a bright light and we are told that God is well pleased with Jesus and we are to listen to...
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sister Priscilla Aliu, SNDdeN
July 30, 2023 Matthew 13:44-52 The kingdom of God is found by those who are consciously awake in the spirit. Let us pay attention to the attributes used by Jesus to describe the kingdom of heaven. Firstly, it is a hidden treasure, secondly, it is a fine pearl of great...
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sister Marie-Andre Mitchell, SNDdeN
July 23, 2023 Matthew 13:24-43 World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly Today’s excerpt from the Gospel of Matthew is a series of parables about the reign of God. The content of the parables needs to be understood in the light of Jesus’ Kingdom teaching. What we...
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sister Mary Ann Barnhorn, SNDdeN
July 16, 2023 Matthew 13:1-23 Jesus introduces Himself as a sower of seeds. Indeed, He is a loving God who generously sows seeds, not in the ground but in our hearts. Our understanding of who Jesus is deepens as we look at Him telling His followers about the Kingdom....
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sister Barbara Metz, SNDdeN
July 9, 2023 Matthew 11: 25-30 The song “Come As You Are” by Paul Gurr was very popular a few years back. It contains lyrics taken from the beautiful invitation in the reading from Matthew’s gospel that we have in today’s liturgy. There is in Matthew’s gospel and in...
Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sister Agnes Nelson, SNDdeN
July 2, 2023 Matthew 10: 37-42 “ Those who lose their lives for my sake will find life. Those who give even a cup of water to one of these little ones will certainly not lose their reward.” What is it that would enable me to welcome another person, no matter who, with...
Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sister Maura McMenamin, SNDdeN
June 25, 2023 Matthew 10: 26-33 “Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name, you are mine” These words from a well- known hymn encapsulates, perhaps, the messages from today’s Gospel. There would seem to be two main teachings by Jesus...
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sister Liane Delsuc, SNDdeN
June 18, 2023 Matt. 9: 36 -10:8 As Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, we strive to proclaim the goodness of God with our lives, a goodness revealed in each of today’s readings. In the first reading, Moses goes ‘up the mountain’ where he can hear God’s voice....
Corpus Christi Sunday – Sister Ifeoma Okpala, SNDdeN
June 11, 2023 John 6: 51-58 Two incidents came to my mind as I prepared to share my reflection on the solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. The first incident was a few years ago when I came across a postcard depicting the image of hands breaking bread. The back...
Trinity Sunday – Sister Mary Cluderay, SNDdeN
June 4, 2023 John 3: 16-18 I begin with the words of Jesus which he speaks to His Disciples as He prepares to leave them: "All authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the...
