Ross Dizon

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...
Constitutive, Indispensable, Crucial

Constitutive, Indispensable, Crucial

Jesus is constitutive of the Christian community.  Do we say and live this as St. Vincent? Moises makes clear what truly matters.  Jesus does so too.  For the two of them, it is not about us.  Or the group that we make up, chosen and gifted so as to serve others. ...

Constitutive, Indispensable, Crucial

Foolish and Slow to Believe, and Afraid

Jesus alone is Lord, the Most High, for there is no better and more lowly servant of all than he.  Hence, to mistake his greatness with that of the world is to be foolish before him. As it turns out, Jesus is right to ask his disciples to tell no one that he is the...

Constitutive, Indispensable, Crucial

Rumors, No; Intimate Knowledge, Yes

Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed.  To know and confess him so is to go beyond rumors; it is to live and die like him. There are rumors that Jesus is John the Baptist who is back to life.  Or is Elijah who is expected to come before the Day of the Lord...

Constitutive, Indispensable, Crucial

Gestures and Words That Heal and Proclaim

Jesus opens our ears and makes loose the strings of our tongues.  He enables us to make gestures that heal and speak words that proclaim God’s kingdom. Amazing magic for the sake of a deaf and mute in a place where pagans live?  If this is what Jesus’ gestures make us...

Constitutive, Indispensable, Crucial

Fresh Start in Life for Us Men and Women

Jesus shows us the new that one has yet to see or hear or think of.  To be his disciples, we have to make a fresh start. The Pharisees and scribes ask Jesus why his disciples do not follow the tradition of the elders.  It is because the disciples eat with hands that...

Constitutive, Indispensable, Crucial

Rise or Fall, Live or Die, Yes or No

Jesus comes down from heaven and dwells among us.  He takes up our flesh of death to give us spirit and life.  He wants us to rise. The Jews were the ones who grumbled before when Jesus said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”  Those who grumble now are...

Constitutive, Indispensable, Crucial

Bearers of Joy and Hope That Flows Over

Jesus’ is the power that frees us from the sadness and hopelessness of death.  He wants us to be bearers of joy and hope like his Mother. The Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of those who make up the Church to bring Christ to others.  And he is the light of the...

Constitutive, Indispensable, Crucial

Perishable, Yet Saving Just the Same

The Word becomes flesh; the imperishable, perishable.  And he shares in our humanity so that we may share in his divinity. Jesus says that he is the bread that came from heaven, which makes the Jews grumble.  They are sure that he is from the same land as they and as...

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