Today’s parable makes clear that those who accept God’s call to his kingdom must clothe themselves appropriately.
Ross Dizon
Dare the Wise and Learned to Be Truthful
Jesus is the sign of contradiction. He brings to light what we harbor in our hearts. He cannot but dare us to be...
Doubt the Quick “Yes” that We Say
Jesus is the firstborn from among those who do what is true and come to the light, so that there is no doubt that...
Yoke That Is Easy, Burden That Is Light
Jesus soothes those who are weary and carry heavy burden. To take his yoke and learn from him is to know the Father and find rest and ease. In wonder, Jesus thanks the Father. For, though Lord of heaven and earth, the Father favors with revelation the little folks. ...
Paradoxes: Signs of the New Creation
Jesus brings in the new creation. The paradoxes that he lives and teaches let us know what the new creation means. Jesus uses hard sayings and paradoxes to announce the Good News. And there are, in today’s gospel, examples of these hard sayings and paradoxes. For...
Fears the Sent Ones Must Overcome
Jesus comes to his own people and they persecute him. This will also be the fate of his disciples. They waver due to their fears. Jesus senses the fears that his apostles harbor. These are the twelve disciples he sends to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And...
Sheep Who Do Not Have a Shepherd
Jesus, the Good Shepherd, seeks the good of the sheep. He is not like those who steal, slaughter and destroy as they seek their own good. Jesus has compassion for the crowds, for they are troubled and abandoned like sheep that have no shepherd. A circumstance, then,...
Table to Which Jesus Invites us
Jesus gives us his flesh to eat and his blood to drink. To sit down at his table means to be one with him and with others. Jesus tells the Jews, that is to say, the Jewish religious authorities, that the bread he will give is his flesh. This gives rise to a quarrel...
Savor the Love that God Has for Us
Jesus shows the depth of God’s love to the end. To savor such love is to know the One who creates us and is with us and makes us breathe. Those who cherish the law, the Torah, savor it, for they find it to be sweeter than honey. So, Jesus who fulfills the law and...
Breath that Creates, Gives Life and Renews
Jesus, the Good Shepherd, has come so that his followers, his sheep, may have life and have it to the full. He passes on to them his breath. In the Acts of the Apostles, fifty days separate Pentecost from Easter. But that is not so in John’s Gospel that we hear or...
Emmanuel, That Is to Say, God-with-Us
Jesus, the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end, is Emmanuel, God-with-us. He is with us always, until the end. The first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew proclaims that Jesus is Emmanuel, God-with-us. And the last chapter narrates...
Defend Those Who Are Poor and Helpless
Jesus lives. That is why they see him and live those who believe in him, and love him. The Spirit of truth does not fail to defend them. Jesus takes leave of his disciples. For comes the hour for him to give his body up and to shed his blood. Hence, they are sad...
