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

Disciples to the bitter end

Jesus is the good Teacher.  He invites us to be his disciples. Jesus is resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem with his disciples.  There, he will suffer greatly and die on the cross.  The specter of a violent death does not make him turn back. Much less does...

Constitutive, Indispensable, Crucial

Hidden still is Jesus’ messiahship

Jesus is God’s Christ.  His being so remains hidden, however, from those who lack compassion. Jesus backtracks.  He keeps hidden once again his being the Messiah no sooner than he has revealed it through Peter’s confession of faith.  The Teacher directs his disciples...

Constitutive, Indispensable, Crucial

Shocking without any doubt

Jesus, the embodiment of God’s shocking forgiveness, provides us with the opportunity to love with abandon. It is shocking to Simon the Pharisee that his guest lets a notorious sinful woman approach him.  He doubts, therefore, that Jesus is a prophet. Simon and the...

Constitutive, Indispensable, Crucial

Troubled unto a troubling death

Human misery leaves Jesus troubled, and he seeks that other people’s miseries leave us likewise troubled. The disciples and a large crowd accompany Jesus to Nain.  A large crowd from Nain is with a widow at her only son’s funeral procession.  The stage is set for a...

Constitutive, Indispensable, Crucial

Surprises and more surprises

Jesus does not cease to surprise.  He uses surprises to teach us everything, through the Holy Spirit, and to guide us to all truth. What a surprise of surprises surely for the disciples to see their Teacher alive after his crucifixion and burial!  His entry into the...

Constitutive, Indispensable, Crucial

Witnesses of Jesus throughout the world

Jesus appoints his followers to be his witnesses.  Are we so really and in a credible manner? Jesus tells the witnesses of his passion, death and resurrection: You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,...

Constitutive, Indispensable, Crucial

Intimate disciples of Jesus

Jesus wants us to be his intimate lovers, proven so through our keeping of his word.  He seeks to share with us, through the Holy Spirit, his Father’s love and genuine peace. In the first place, Jesus affirms that to love him truly means to carry out his word.  He...

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