Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches. That we remain in him, and he in us, is what makes us bear much fruit. In...
A Vincentian reading of the Sunday readings
Lead God’s Flock in the Same Way as Jesus
Jesus shows what God does to lead his flock. And so, he also gives a model for his shepherds. The crowds longed for...
Misgivings, Doubts, Questions, Darkness
Jesus was once dead, but now he lives forever and ever (Rev 1, 18). For God raised him from the dead. May our...
The height of folly
Easter Sunday (B), April 5, 2015 – Acts 10, 34a. 37-43; Col 3, 1-4 or 1 Cor 5, 6b-8; Jn 20, 1-9 God raised him on the third day (Acts 10, 40) In the risen Jesus is the foolishness of the cross exalted. By the Lord has this been done! By grace Peter and the beloved...
Dying to live forever
Palm Sunday (B), March 29, 2015 – Mk 11, 1-10 or Jn 12, 12-16; Is 50, 4-7; Phil 2, 6-11; Mk 14, 1 – 15, 47 He humbled himself, becoming obedient to death (Phil 2, 8) Jesus does not come down from the cross to save himself. He thus opens for us the way of salvation....
Drawing power
Fifth Sunday of Lent (B), March 22, 2015 – Jer 31, 31-34; Heb 5, 7-9; Jn 12, 20-33 He learned obedience from what he suffered (Heb 5, 8) Lifted up from the earth, Jesus seals a new pact. The Lord promises a new covenant. It will not be like that of Sinai, which was...
Falling back and springing forward
Fourth Sunday of Lent (B), March 15, 2015 – 2 Chon 36, 14-16. 19-23; Eph 2, 4-10; Jn 3, 14-21 By grace you have been saved through faith (Eph 2, 8) Jesus crucified bears out that where sin increases, grace overflows all the more. Salvation history is, in summary, the...
He nails it
Third Sunday of Lent (B), March 8, 2015 – Ex 20, 1-17; 1 Cor 1, 22-25; Jn 2, 13-25 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom (1 Cor 1, 22) Jesus is doing something new that is already perceivable. We must fix our gaze on it, no longer remembering the events of the...
Nothing but the full truth
Second Sunday of Lent (B), March 1, 2015 – Gen 22, 1-2. 9a. 10-13. 15-18; Rom 8, 31b-34; Mk 9, 2-10 He handed him over for us all (Rom 8, 32) Jesus is the fullness of revelation. He transforms into his glorious image the hearers and doers of his word, willing even to...
The lure of the desert
First Sunday of Lent (B), February 22, 2015 – Gen 9, 8-15; 1 Pt 3, 18-22; Mk 1, 12-15 An appeal to God for a clear conscience (1 Pt 3, 21) Driven into the desert by the same Spirit that descended on him at the Jordan, Jesus is revealed as the leader of the new exodus....
Blessed curse
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B), February 15, 2015 – Lev 13, 1-2. 45-46; 1 Cor 10, 31 – 11, 1; Mk 1, 40-45 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ (1 Cor 11, 1) Jesus bears our infirmities and endures our sufferings. His true followers follow his example. A leper...
“Islands of mercy in the midst of the sea of indifference”
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B), February 8, 2015 – Job 7, 1-4. 6-7; 1 Cor 9, 16-19. 22-23; Mk 1, 29-39 To the weak I became weak (1 Cor 9, 22) Jesus says to those of us who, like the anguished Job, bemoan our miseries in this valley of tears: “Come to me, all you...
