Tom McKenna, CM
Author
![Naming God (Exodus 34: 8-9; John 3:16)](https://b704496.smushcdn.com/704496/en/files/2022/10/mckenna-tom-reflections-featured-facebook-1.jpg?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
Naming God (Exodus 34: 8-9; John 3:16)
Two people are in a conversation, asking how they feel about each other. After much back and forth, one says to the other, “How would you name that feeling?”
![Naming God (Exodus 34: 8-9; John 3:16)](https://b704496.smushcdn.com/704496/en/files/2022/10/mckenna-tom-reflections-featured-facebook-1.jpg?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
The Way (John 14:1-12)
Rereading Andre Dodin’s biography of Saint Vincent de Paul recently, I was struck with the phrase he used to weave together the various threads of Vincent’s life.
![Naming God (Exodus 34: 8-9; John 3:16)](https://b704496.smushcdn.com/704496/en/files/2022/10/mckenna-tom-reflections-featured-facebook-1.jpg?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
Get Up and Set Out (John 6:44, Acts 8:26-40)
This homily was preached on the occasion of the taking of Final Vows by a Vincentian seminarian, Alex Palacios, in Philadelphia, PA.
![Naming God (Exodus 34: 8-9; John 3:16)](https://b704496.smushcdn.com/704496/en/files/2022/10/mckenna-tom-reflections-featured-facebook-1.jpg?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
Inside The Fold (John 10:1-10)
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.
![Naming God (Exodus 34: 8-9; John 3:16)](https://b704496.smushcdn.com/704496/en/files/2022/10/mckenna-tom-reflections-featured-facebook-1.jpg?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
Paying It Forward (Acts 2:42-47)
In the Acts of the Apostles, we come across a behavior that is not quite self-explanatory.
![Naming God (Exodus 34: 8-9; John 3:16)](https://b704496.smushcdn.com/704496/en/files/2022/10/mckenna-tom-reflections-featured-facebook-1.jpg?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
Toward Jerusalem
We disciples of Christ profess to follow the Lord Jesus– and this week in particular, we would follow Him to Jerusalem.
![Naming God (Exodus 34: 8-9; John 3:16)](https://b704496.smushcdn.com/704496/en/files/2022/10/mckenna-tom-reflections-featured-facebook-1.jpg?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
Never Alone (John 11:1-45)
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.
![Naming God (Exodus 34: 8-9; John 3:16)](https://b704496.smushcdn.com/704496/en/files/2022/10/mckenna-tom-reflections-featured-facebook-1.jpg?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
Seeing What’s There (John 9:39)
How many times have you heard people use the phrase, “I finally woke up?”
![Naming God (Exodus 34: 8-9; John 3:16)](https://b704496.smushcdn.com/704496/en/files/2022/10/mckenna-tom-reflections-featured-facebook-1.jpg?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
Struggles at a Well (John 4:5-42)
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.
![Naming God (Exodus 34: 8-9; John 3:16)](https://b704496.smushcdn.com/704496/en/files/2022/10/mckenna-tom-reflections-featured-facebook-1.jpg?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
Higher (Matthew 5:38-48)
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.