A Vincentian reading of the Sunday readings

Jesus sends us the Holy Spirit from the Father. This Spirit of truth is upon us to advocate for us who are weak but seek to fulfill our mission. Jesus knows that his disciples need an Advocate to speak up for them and defend them. After all, they show time and again...

Jesus has gone up to heaven and now sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high as Lord.  He wants us to be as fully human and whole as he is.  On the Lord’s going up to heaven, we read that “to go up” means “to go down.” This matches another text that says Jesus...

Jesus gives us the greatest proof of love one can give. For he deigns to hand over his body and shed his blood out of love for us.  I can give away all I own to help the poor or even hand over my body to burn. Still, this does not always mean I love; I could do it for...

Jesus is the true vine.  He gives the branches that remain in him the sap that gives them life and strength and makes them bear plenty of fruit. Jesus uses the allegory of the vine and the branches. He does so since he wants to make clear how his disciples should...

Jesus is Ruler and Savior, Lord and Messiah.  Yet he lords over no one; he serves and is the Good Shepherd who gives his life for the sheep. A ruler among Jesus’ own should not at all be like a ruler among the Gentiles. The latter lords it over others. The former, on...

The one who has risen is the same Jesus of Nazareth that the disciples have known, loved and followed on the roads of Galilee.  To be his witness means to see to it that other folks catch the Good News.  Those who make up a group can easily catch each other’s fears or...

Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.  To believe in him means to know how to read, to grasp, his many signs in our midst.  We read, as we come to the end of today’s gospel, “Jesus did many other signs.”  So then, we can take it that his rising from the dead is one of...

Christ is risen!  This goes to show that to go from here to there to preach the Good News to the poor, to cure the sick and to set free the oppressed, to love, is to please God. God anoints Jesus with the power of the Holy Spirit. And he, then, goes about to do good...

Jesus, in life and in death, is one with those who are poor, who have no power, whom others cast out. Hence, we cannot but deny him if we turn our backs on them. We read that many give false witness against Jesus before the Sanhedrin but that they do not agree in what...