Jesus is born on the outskirts of Bethlehem, in a shelter for animals in bad weather. There, yes, is where to find...
Ross Dizon
Visits that Are Christian, Marian, Vincentian
Jesus is the fullness of God’s visits to us humans to save us. The visits we pay to our neighbor should be like...
Rejoice in the Lord, for He is Near
Jesus is near. He will rule the world and all peoples with justice. Hence, those who wait for him, and seek his...
Naked in the presence of Jesus
Jesus alone clothes the naked and fills those who are empty by sharing with them his mission to clothe the naked and fill those who hunger and thirst for justice and mercy. Peter, who is fishing naked—do those who have fishing as their occupation work naked...
Mission for Christians and Vincentians especially
Jesus commands us to get out of all confinement to take part, enabled by the Spirit and with courageous faith, in the mission of forgiveness and peace, of evangelization and healing. Though the doors of the house are locked, Jesus manages to enter. He stands in the...
Faith working through love
Jesus wants us to have a faith that is firm as a rock and immense as the sea. This faith, made alive by love, prompts Mary of Magdala to go to Jesus’ tomb at the first opportunity. Due to the same faith, this female disciple stays outside the tomb weeping, after...
Courage! Jesus leads us
Leading fearful disciples, who are also slow to understand, Jesus heads towards Jerusalem to face with courage his painful fate. Courage does not mean not agonizing at the specter of suffering and death. Jesus is in such agony that his sweat becomes “like drops of...
Condemn, and you foster retrogression and death
Jesus does not condemn us sinners; he invites us to renewal. Although without sin, despite his being like us, Jesus refuses to condemn the woman caught “in the very act of committing adultery.” No doubt, those who brought her want to affirm their strict adherence to...
Banquet for the holy and not so holy
Jesus invites even sinners to the banquet of the kingdom. The strict practitioners of religion complain once again that Jesus welcomes sinners and eats with them. They probably deride him, whispering to each other, “You cannot take him to any banquet.” But again, too,...
Repentance: believing and living the Gospel
Our merciful Lord listens to sinners who cry out to him. He takes no pleasure in their death, but in their repentance, so that they may live and bear much fruit. Jesus makes it clear that we are all in need of repentance. He warns that if we do not repent, we will...
Prayer, mission, evangelization
A man of prayer, Jesus is capable of everything, of living the hard truth even that there is no glorification without crucifixion. Jesus is devoted to prayer. He is, according to St. Vincent de Paul, “a man of the greatest prayer” (SV.FR IX:415). Or, as Father Robert...
Near to us is the saving Word of God
Jesus is near us so that he may save us who cry out to him and call on his name. No one is more near to us than Jesus, the Word made flesh and dwelling among us. He is “God-with-us.” He is near us in many ways. He is within our reach in the least of his brothers and...
