A Vincentian reading of the Sunday readings

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...

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...

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...

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...
Ability to Hasten the Coming of the Lord

Ability to Hasten the Coming of the Lord

Jesus shares with us his anointing and mission to bring the Good News to the poor.  He gives tasks to each one according to one’s ability. By the grace of God, we have the ability to believe in Jesus.  But when he comes after a long time, will he find faith on earth?...

Ability to Hasten the Coming of the Lord

Bright and Dull in the Eyes of God

Jesus Christ will come at an hour that we do not expect.  That is why we must be ready and be among the bright, not among the dull. Four Sundays ago, we heard that among God’s guests were bad and good folks.  Today we hear that the bright and the dull make up those...

Ability to Hasten the Coming of the Lord

Happy and Glad Followers of Jesus

Jesus shows us by words and deeds what true happiness is.  That is because he wants us to be happy and glad to the fullest. Jesus proclaims happy the wretched in the eyes of the world.  That is to say, he breaks the mold:  he announces a counterculture; he fosters...

Ability to Hasten the Coming of the Lord

Deeds, Indeed, and Not Just Words

Jesus embodies the truth that good deeds are love and not good words and reasons.  Do we really live up to this truth? We are often encouraged to love God (SV.EN XI:32).  “But let it be with the strength of our arms and the sweat of our brows.”  That is to say, love...

Ability to Hasten the Coming of the Lord

Trap Is All It Is, There Is No Doubt

Jesus probes the heart and searches the mind.  That is why those who seek to catch him and set a trap for him fall into it themselves. The Pharisees and their followers are against the payment of taxes to Caesar.  The Herodians, on the other hand, are for it.  But it...

Ability to Hasten the Coming of the Lord

Guests at the Kingly Wedding Feast

Jesus is the fullness of God’s revelation.  And so through him, we get to know fully that God wants us all to be his pleasing guests. As it turns out, those who are to be the guests at the start are not worthy.  And that is why the king thinks it fit to turn into...

Ability to Hasten the Coming of the Lord

Trustworthy and Fruitful Tenants

Jesus embodies the trust to the extreme that God puts in us.  And such trust lifts us up so that we become fruitful, trustworthy and ready to give God the fruit that is due him. God must surely take us to be trustworthy.  Or he would not lease us his vineyard.  That...

Ability to Hasten the Coming of the Lord

Bond with God and with Human Beings

Jesus Christ embodies the genuine bond with God and with humans.  Through him, fully revealed and done is the will of God. Jesus tells a parable to the chief priests and the elders of the people.  Even we who live today understand it easily.  That is because it is...

Ability to Hasten the Coming of the Lord

Equal Treatment of Everyone in Need

Jesus is the one who reveals God.  This God is good to all and makes equal those who do little to those who do much. The God that Jesus reveals is very good.  Equal to the landowner who goes out five times to hire workers, God gives livelihood to those who need it....

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