As with all literature, there are many words in the Scriptures that need interpretation, that second look to get at their more underlying meaning.
McKenna
A Closer Walk (John 2:13-25)
by Tom McKenna, CM | March 20, 2024 | Formation, Reflections | 0 Comments
Early in St. John’s gospel, we see Jesus resolutely striding into the outer courtyard of the Jerusalem Temple, a space bordering on what the Jewish people acknowledged to be God’s own Dwelling place.
Gratitude: The Key (1 Cor. 9: 16-19; Mk.1:29-39)
by Tom McKenna, CM | March 6, 2024 | Formation, Reflections | 2 Comments
A question: what is it that allows people to keep on giving? What is it that motivates someone who isn’t receiving any reward or payment to continue being generous?
The Collaborative Instinct
by Tom McKenna, CM | February 21, 2024 | Formation, Reflections | 3 Comments
There have been times in both the history of the Jewish people and in our own Church when there was a wide dividing line between the clergy and the rest of the believing people.
Inside Authority (Mark 1: 21-28)
by Tom McKenna, CM | February 7, 2024 | Formation, Reflections | 2 Comments
There is a phase to describe what often happens when somebody who is believable begins to talk: “When he or she stands up to speak, everybody listens!”
Looking Out and Looking Up (Luke 19:1-10)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Nov 2, 2022 | Formation, Reflections
Luke’s 19th chapter begins with a story of “two people looking.”
65th Anniversary of Vincentian Brother Alfred Smith’s Service
by Tom McKenna, CM | Oct 19, 2022 | Formation, Reflections
To keep God’s people safe and alive in their battle against Amalek, Moses has to hold his arms high in the air for a very long while.
Words – and Words (John 4:5-42)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Mar 25, 2020 | Formation, Reflections
“I hear you talking. But the question is what are you saying?”
Something More (Mt 5:17-37; I Cor 2:6)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Mar 11, 2020 | Formation, Reflections
Under modern-day pressures to bring the Good News to the poor, may the Vincentian Family continue to rely on that Something More.
Little Pieces of Light (Isaiah 58; Mt. 5)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Feb 26, 2020 | Formation, Reflections
Returning to the light imagery of Isaiah and Jesus, we’re enjoined not to deepen the dark by inaction but rather to let the light of our active compassion push back the gloom.
Gospel Styles (Luke 2:22-40)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Feb 12, 2020 | Formation, Reflections
Have you ever thought of yourself as an evangelizer? There are different ways and styles of being an evangelist.
Spirit Prompts (John 1: 29-34)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Jan 29, 2020 | Formation, Reflections
The Spirit of God is always moving through creation and through human hearts. But there are things we can do which make us more receptive to those movements.
Solid Saving Symbols (Acts 10:37; Mt 3:17)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Jan 15, 2020 | Formation, Reflections
As all of us know, to say that something is symbolic is to claim that some reality, the symbol, carries inside itself much more than what appears on its surface.
Adding to the Scene (Lk 2:1-14)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Jan 1, 2020 | Formation, Reflections
Imaginatively placing resolutions and actions around the manger is a prayer exercise that can draw us closer into what is happening there.
Through the Veil (Isaiah 11; Hebrews 6)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Dec 18, 2019 | Formation, Reflections
Much of life, is spent waiting — and Advent is the time of hopeful waiting.
The King’s View
by Tom McKenna, CM | Dec 4, 2019 | Formation, Reflections
When this King is exercising his Kingship where does he stand and what does he see?