Ross Dizon
Author
![Outcasts Who Enter the Kingdom Before Us](https://b704496.smushcdn.com/704496/en/files/2022/10/ross-reyes-dizon-sunday-readings-facebook-copy.jpg?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
Outcasts Who Enter the Kingdom Before Us
Jesus does not turn down the outcasts that come to him, but welcomes them. He promises to give them God’s kingdom. We celebrate the solemn feast of Jesus Christ, King of the universe. And the Church sends us back to the place called “The Skull.” There, they crucify...
![Outcasts Who Enter the Kingdom Before Us](https://b704496.smushcdn.com/704496/en/files/2022/10/ross-reyes-dizon-sunday-readings-facebook-copy.jpg?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
Sun of Justice That Saves and Heals
Jesus is the sun of justice that enlightens us who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death. The Ukrainians suffer very much due to the war. And life will be harder still for millions. For they are plunged into the cold and the dark; thanks to the sun for heat and...
![Outcasts Who Enter the Kingdom Before Us](https://b704496.smushcdn.com/704496/en/files/2022/10/ross-reyes-dizon-sunday-readings-facebook-copy.jpg?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
Believers, and Not Just Thinkers
Jesus is the resurrection and the life. It is enough for us to be believers in him to conquer death. The problem of religion does not lie in those who are not believers but in those who are believers. It does not lie in the publican, but in the Pharisee that looks...
![Outcasts Who Enter the Kingdom Before Us](https://b704496.smushcdn.com/704496/en/files/2022/10/ross-reyes-dizon-sunday-readings-facebook-copy.jpg?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
Save What Is Lost, This Is What It Is About
Jesus, the Son of Man, has come to seek and to save what is lost. No, there are no lost cases for him. St. Luke tells us that Zacchaeus is a chief publican and a wealthy man. This means that, in the eyes of others, no one can save him. For he is a publican, that is...
![Outcasts Who Enter the Kingdom Before Us](https://b704496.smushcdn.com/704496/en/files/2022/10/ross-reyes-dizon-sunday-readings-facebook-copy.jpg?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
Just Servants of the Holy Lord
Jesus is the image of the all-just God who alone is good. Before him and before God, no one is just. Last Sunday’s theme on prayer is back today. For Jesus tells the parable of the Pharisee and the publican. The two are in the temple to pray. And St. Luke lets us...
![Cries of Those Who Are Poor for Justice](https://b704496.smushcdn.com/704496/en/files/2015/11/ross-reyes-dizon-sunday-readings-facebook.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
Cries of Those Who Are Poor for Justice
Jesus is the help that comes from above. He is at once the unflagging prayer for the poor and the saving answer to their cries. Jesus tells his disciples the parable of the widow and the judge. He wants to teach them how they should pray to the one who hears the...
![Cries of Those Who Are Poor for Justice](https://b704496.smushcdn.com/704496/en/files/2015/11/ross-reyes-dizon-sunday-readings-facebook.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
Thanks to God through Jesus Christ
Jesus it is who teaches us by word and by deed to give to God the right thanks that we owe him for the gifts we freely receive. The Samaritan, who sees that he is free of leprosy and goes back to give Jesus thanks, breaks the mold. For he is a foreigner that Jews...
![Cries of Those Who Are Poor for Justice](https://b704496.smushcdn.com/704496/en/files/2015/11/ross-reyes-dizon-sunday-readings-facebook.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
Freely You Receive, Freely Give Also
Jesus has redeemed us by his blood. We do not pay, nor can we pay, for our redemption; we receive it freely. Faith is a divine gift (Rom 12, 3; Phil 1, 29; 2 Pt 1, 1). Those who believe only have it by God’s grace; they receive it freely. And it is safe to say that...
![Cries of Those Who Are Poor for Justice](https://b704496.smushcdn.com/704496/en/files/2015/11/ross-reyes-dizon-sunday-readings-facebook.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
Crucible That Tests Our Hearts
Jesus is the only one that his disciples need to know and speak of. From the cross, he proclaims that those who are his go through the crucible. They thus get to be just like him. “The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, but the one that tests...
![Cries of Those Who Are Poor for Justice](https://b704496.smushcdn.com/704496/en/files/2015/11/ross-reyes-dizon-sunday-readings-facebook.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
Cut off from Us All Self-Sufficiency
Jesus is “God-with-us.” And that is why disciples should not cut off God and their neighbor from their lives. The man whose life is one of luxury and show is very rich: stylish clothes, lavish banquets. He is cut off, for sure, from the beggar; the two are worlds...