A Vincentian reading of the Sunday readings

Sap of Life, Strength and Fruitfulness

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...

Ruler and Savior, Lord and Messiah, Good Shepherd

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...

Catch the Good News of Jesus Christ

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...

Read the Signs of Jesus in Our Midst

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...
Destroy the Idols that Make Us Slaves

God-with-us in Our Joys and Our Griefs

Jesus, God-with-us, is the first of the brothers and sisters who rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. There is a report that fewer folks in the U.S. believe in God and, one can guess, in God-with-us. For the number of believers in the U.S. is...

Destroy the Idols that Make Us Slaves

Supreme Value of the Kingdom of God

On top of being the scribe who is trained in the kingdom of heaven, Jesus embodies also the supreme value that this kingdom is. The teaching is clear that the kingdom of heaven is the supreme value.  For there is this saying:  “Seek first the kingdom of God and his...

Destroy the Idols that Make Us Slaves

Yoke That Is Easy, Burden That Is Light

Jesus soothes those who are weary and carry heavy burden.  To take his yoke and learn from him is to know the Father and find rest and ease. In wonder, Jesus thanks the Father.  For, though Lord of heaven and earth, the Father favors with revelation the little folks. ...

Destroy the Idols that Make Us Slaves

Paradoxes: Signs of the New Creation

Jesus brings in the new creation. The paradoxes that he lives and teaches let us know what the new creation means. Jesus uses hard sayings and paradoxes to announce the Good News.  And there are, in today’s gospel, examples of these hard sayings and paradoxes. For...

Destroy the Idols that Make Us Slaves

Fears the Sent Ones Must Overcome

Jesus comes to his own people and they persecute him. This will also be the fate of his disciples. They waver due to their fears.  Jesus senses the fears that his apostles harbor. These are the twelve disciples he sends to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And...

Destroy the Idols that Make Us Slaves

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,...

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