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 Vincentian reading of the Sunday readings
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...
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...
Faith working through love
Jesus wants us to have a faith that is firm as a rock and immense as the sea. This faith, made alive by love, prompts Mary of Magdala to go to Jesus’ tomb at the first opportunity. Due to the same faith, this female disciple stays outside the tomb weeping, after...
Courage! Jesus leads us
Leading fearful disciples, who are also slow to understand, Jesus heads towards Jerusalem to face with courage his painful fate. Courage does not mean not agonizing at the specter of suffering and death. Jesus is in such agony that his sweat becomes “like drops of...
Condemn, and you foster retrogression and death
Jesus does not condemn us sinners; he invites us to renewal. Although without sin, despite his being like us, Jesus refuses to condemn the woman caught “in the very act of committing adultery.” No doubt, those who brought her want to affirm their strict adherence to...
Banquet for the holy and not so holy
Jesus invites even sinners to the banquet of the kingdom. The strict practitioners of religion complain once again that Jesus welcomes sinners and eats with them. They probably deride him, whispering to each other, “You cannot take him to any banquet.” But again, too,...
Repentance: believing and living the Gospel
Our merciful Lord listens to sinners who cry out to him. He takes no pleasure in their death, but in their repentance, so that they may live and bear much fruit. Jesus makes it clear that we are all in need of repentance. He warns that if we do not repent, we will...
Prayer, mission, evangelization
A man of prayer, Jesus is capable of everything, of living the hard truth even that there is no glorification without crucifixion. Jesus is devoted to prayer. He is, according to St. Vincent de Paul, “a man of the greatest prayer” (SV.FR IX:415). Or, as Father Robert...
Near to us is the saving Word of God
Jesus is near us so that he may save us who cry out to him and call on his name. No one is more near to us than Jesus, the Word made flesh and dwelling among us. He is “God-with-us.” He is near us in many ways. He is within our reach in the least of his brothers and...
Master and Teacher thrice holy
Jesus is our Teacher and Master, which also means we must learn to do everything that he commands and teaches by words and works, and to proclaim his Gospel. Setting aside his experience and knowledge as a fisherman, Simon believes in the words of the carpenter from...
Prophet also means rejected
Jesus states he is a prophet with the same destiny as the other prophets rejected by their own people. He explains that he is God’s good and amazing Word to the poor. And right away he is revealed as a prophet. That is because, notwithstanding their initial expression...
