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...
Fishers of Men and Women, Sinners All

Forgive as our heavenly Father Forgives

Jesus calls us to repentance and forgiveness.  And we heed his call in so far as we are ready to forgive our brothers and sisters. The Gospel teaches that we are to avoid those who refuse to listen even to the community.  But the teaching is no reason not to forgive...

Fishers of Men and Women, Sinners All

Name that Is above Every Other Name

Christ is the reason why his followers bear the name of Christians.  They are other Christs, then, anointed to announce repentance and the kingdom of God. Jesus assures those who gather in his name and pray together that they will receive what they ask.  And it will...

Fishers of Men and Women, Sinners All

Strongly Following the Ways of God

Christ himself is the fulfillment of God’s strongly expressed intent to do something new.  Those who are one with Christ are the new creation. Jesus shows that he must suffer greatly, die and then rise.  Peter strongly disagrees and rebukes him.  But who could blame...

Fishers of Men and Women, Sinners All

Knowledge for Christian Service

Knowledge of Christ is what matters above all.  Those who know him receive in trust keys of authority to serve others faithfully and caringly. The Father, Lord of heaven and earth, gives to the childlike the knowledge he hides from those who are wise.  Peter is among...

Fishers of Men and Women, Sinners All

Caring for Those in the Outskirts

To see Jesus is to see the merciful God who is caring towards those in the outskirts who cry out to him. Jesus is a Jew.  It seems he is even portrayed as siding with those who show their contempt for the Gentiles by calling them dogs or swine.  This closed and...

Fishers of Men and Women, Sinners All

Astounding Very Much Indeed!

Jesus, the astounding Son of Man, will astound us even at the last judgment.  He wants us to put him in the center. Among other things, the way Jesus teaches is astounding.  He teaches with authority.  This means, says St. Gregory the Great, that his authority does...

Fishers of Men and Women, Sinners All

Figure of God and of the Disfigured

Even without a figure that would draw us, Jesus is still the epiphany of God. The figure of Jesus makes appear above (epiphanein in Greek), that is, on the surface, the mystery of God.  But it is hard for us who are still in the world to welcome Jesus. The ambivalence...

Fishers of Men and Women, Sinners All

Patience like the Patience of a Farmer

Jesus is the patience of God.  God is, undoubtedly, great and does wondrous deeds.  Yet he is merciful at the same time. We need patience, those of us who are in a hurry.  So, little wonder we love fast food. We do not like, besides, long lines of people at the bank...

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