This homily was preached on the occasion of the taking of Final Vows by a Vincentian seminarian, Alex Palacios, in Philadelphia, PA.

Preparing for this Sunday, which is often called Good Shepherd Sunday, I came across a description of the things a shepherd in Jesus’ time would do to care for his — or her — sheep.

In the Acts of the Apostles, we come across a behavior that is not quite self-explanatory.

We disciples of Christ profess to follow the Lord Jesus– and this week in particular, we would follow Him to Jerusalem.

One of the heaviest of feelings is the one of being alone. You hear it in the cry of an infant, and more generally you catch it in the forlorn look of any lonely person.

How many times have you heard people use the phrase, “I finally woke up?”

Some of the traits which come out in the Samaritan woman as she interacts with Jesus at the noonday well could paint her as a hard-hearted and difficult lady.

There’s a phrase from  the sports world, “setting a high bar.” It means raising the height of the jump just beyond the mark the athlete think he can clear.

The word “bias” doesn’t have an especially pleasing connotation. It usually means an unfair leaning toward one group and a blindness toward its opposite.

Every once in a while when reading the Scriptures, something lights up, jumps out into the present time and place.