Jesus became a curse to free us from curses and fill us with blessings. He became sinner and poor to make us just and...
A Vincentian reading of the Sunday readings
Fishers of Men and Women, Sinners All
Jesus is the leading fisher of men and women. Those he calls are also, though sinners, to be fishers of other...
Lover of Sinners and Outcast
Jesus is a lover of those whom religion and society shun: sinners, widows, orphans and strangers. They are dear to...
Fullness par excellence and unequaled
In Jesus dwells all the fullness; those who treat the helpless with mercy are surely partakers of his fullness. “And who is my neighbor?” asks a scholar of the law who wants to justify himself. He is also one of those experts who like to test Jesus. They think they...
Credible witnesses of the Gospel
Jesus has the credible words of eternal life. We believe in him. Are we credible? Those who hear Jesus proclaim the Good News are amazed at his credible words of grace. He teaches with authority. He wants us to be credible also. The phrase “in pairs” indicates...
Disciples to the bitter end
Jesus is the good Teacher. He invites us to be his disciples. Jesus is resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem with his disciples. There, he will suffer greatly and die on the cross. The specter of a violent death does not make him turn back. Much less does...
Hidden still is Jesus’ messiahship
Jesus is God’s Christ. His being so remains hidden, however, from those who lack compassion. Jesus backtracks. He keeps hidden once again his being the Messiah no sooner than he has revealed it through Peter’s confession of faith. The Teacher directs his disciples...
Shocking without any doubt
Jesus, the embodiment of God’s shocking forgiveness, provides us with the opportunity to love with abandon. It is shocking to Simon the Pharisee that his guest lets a notorious sinful woman approach him. He doubts, therefore, that Jesus is a prophet. Simon and the...
Troubled unto a troubling death
Human misery leaves Jesus troubled, and he seeks that other people’s miseries leave us likewise troubled. The disciples and a large crowd accompany Jesus to Nain. A large crowd from Nain is with a widow at her only son’s funeral procession. The stage is set for a...
Generosity that is Eucharistic and priestly
Dying on the cross, Jesus consummates his generosity. He thus stands out as the most compassionate of all, and the one and only supreme mediator between God and us. How admirable Jesus’ generosity! Though rich, he becomes poor for our sake, so that by his poverty...
Revelation in its fullness, love that is limitless
Jesus is the fullness of God’s revelation, and we Christians are to make Jesus known. We sometimes try so hard to explain Christian revelation that we end up understanding it even less. More deplorable still are the excommunications churches decree solemnly against...
Surprises and more surprises
Jesus does not cease to surprise. He uses surprises to teach us everything, through the Holy Spirit, and to guide us to all truth. What a surprise of surprises surely for the disciples to see their Teacher alive after his crucifixion and burial! His entry into the...
