A Vincentian reading of the Sunday readings

Sheep Who Do Not Have a Shepherd

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, seeks the good of the sheep.  He is not like those who steal, slaughter and destroy as they seek their own good. Jesus has compassion for the crowds, for they are troubled and abandoned like sheep that have no shepherd.  A circumstance, then,...

Table to Which Jesus Invites us

Jesus gives us his flesh to eat and his blood to drink.  To sit down at his table means to be one with him and with others. Jesus tells the Jews, that is to say, the Jewish religious authorities, that the bread he will give is his flesh.  This gives rise to a quarrel...

Savor the Love that God Has for Us

Jesus shows the depth of God’s love to the end.  To savor such love is to know the One who creates us and is with us and makes us breathe. Those who cherish the law, the Torah, savor it, for they find it to be sweeter than honey.  So, Jesus who fulfills the law and...

Breath that Creates, Gives Life and Renews

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, has come so that his followers, his sheep, may have life and have it to the full.  He passes on to them his breath. In the Acts of the Apostles, fifty days separate Pentecost from Easter.  But that is not so in John’s Gospel that we hear or...
Rejoice in the Lord, for He is Near

Rejoice in the Lord, for He is Near

Jesus is near.  He will rule the world and all peoples with justice.  Hence, those who wait for him, and seek his kingdom, rejoice. The prophet Zephaniah bids those whom God has chosen to rejoice and sing with joy.  For the Lord who fights for them and frees them is...

Rejoice in the Lord, for He is Near

Outskirts of Large Cities and Towns

Jesus has become poor so that we may be rich by his poverty.  He chooses but the poor on the outskirts to witness to him. The word of God comes to John in the desert, on the outskirts.  That is to say, the son of Elizabeth and Zechariah is the prophet of the Most...

Rejoice in the Lord, for He is Near

Brim with Jesus’ Justice and Love

Jesus is King David’s just shoot.  He comes to make the earth brim with justice.  How he wishes that we get the name “Lord-Our-Justice.” Monsieur Jean Gicquel, —he means well, though he picks the wrong time—, cannot but brim with zeal to help Monsieur Vincent.  The...

Rejoice in the Lord, for He is Near

Kingly and Faithful Witnesses to the Truth

Jesus is the King that God has raised.  Hence, his kingdom is not from this world of lies.  And he expects his disciples to be kingly witnesses to the truth as he. Jesus says before Pilate that he is King.  But he makes clear his kingdom is not of this world.  It is...

Rejoice in the Lord, for He is Near

Clouds by Day, and Fire by Night

Jesus, our Shepherd, leads us along the right path.  He spreads clouds as cover and fire to light up the night.  He wants us to hope, not to fear. Today’s gospel speaks about signs in the sun, the moon and the stars.  They show that the Son of Man will come soon in...

Rejoice in the Lord, for He is Near

Widow who Offers All She Has to Live on

Jesus wholly offers himself to take away our sins.  In this sacrifice shares the widow who gives all she has to live on. In the Bible, as we know, to be a widow, orphan or a foreigner means, in general, to be poor.  That is why the generosity of the widow of Zarephath...

Rejoice in the Lord, for He is Near

Hear, the Lord our God is Lord Alone

Jesus embodies the one who created us, men and women, in his image, after his likeness.  Rightly does he tell us, then, that to love and hear God is to love and hear the neighbor. A scribe asks Jesus, “Which is the first of all the commandments?”  And he answers that...

Rejoice in the Lord, for He is Near

Edge of the Road Leading to Jerusalem

Jesus is merciful.  For he cares for those who call on him in their needs.  He does not leave them at the edge of the road; he takes them with him. The one who has come to be a sacrifice for all cannot pass over those who are poor.  Those, though, who take seats of...

Rejoice in the Lord, for He is Near

Throne of Grace, Goodness and Mercy

Jesus endured the cross and now sits at the right of the throne of God.  We will reign with him if we persevere with him in suffering and service. Even the disciples obsess about becoming great; they argue about who is the greatest.  And to preempt all discussion and...

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