A Vincentian reading of the Sunday readings

Jesus dies for us sinners.  That is how the God of unfathomable goodness proves his love for us as petty and stingy as we are. Our petty desires for gain, power and security hinder the revelation of truth.  And not knowing the truth leads to people’s...

Jesus teaches us to forsake the ways and thoughts of the world.  Replacing them with those of God, we become fools before the world, yet wise before God. To forsake the needy is a sure sign that one follows the ways and thoughts of the world.  And the parable of the...

Jesus calls us to repentance and forgiveness.  And we heed his call in so far as we are ready to forgive our brothers and sisters. The Gospel teaches that we are to avoid those who refuse to listen even to the community.  But the teaching is no reason not to forgive...

Christ is the reason why his followers bear the name of Christians.  They are other Christs, then, anointed to announce repentance and the kingdom of God. Jesus assures those who gather in his name and pray together that they will receive what they ask.  And it will...

Knowledge of Christ is what matters above all.  Those who know him receive in trust keys of authority to serve others faithfully and caringly. The Father, Lord of heaven and earth, gives to the childlike the knowledge he hides from those who are wise.  Peter is among...

To see Jesus is to see the merciful God who is caring towards those in the outskirts who cry out to him. Jesus is a Jew.  It seems he is even portrayed as siding with those who show their contempt for the Gentiles by calling them dogs or swine.  This closed and...

Jesus, the astounding Son of Man, will astound us even at the last judgment.  He wants us to put him in the center. Among other things, the way Jesus teaches is astounding.  He teaches with authority.  This means, says St. Gregory the Great, that his authority does...

Even without a figure that would draw us, Jesus is still the epiphany of God. The figure of Jesus makes appear above (epiphanein in Greek), that is, on the surface, the mystery of God.  But it is hard for us who are still in the world to welcome Jesus. The ambivalence...

In Jesus Christ is hidden the priceless treasure that can make us wholly happy.  In him begins and ends, therefore, the search for the true treasure. Jesus starts his public ministry by announcing that the kingdom of heaven is at hand.  He points out in some way that...