vincentian spirituality

Looking Out and Looking Up (Luke 19:1-10)

by Tom McKenna, CM | November 2, 2022 | Formation, Reflections | 0 Comments

Luke’s 19th chapter begins with a story of “two people looking.”

65th Anniversary of Vincentian Brother Alfred Smith’s Service

by Tom McKenna, CM | October 19, 2022 | Formation, Reflections | 3 Comments

To keep God’s people safe and alive in their battle against Amalek, Moses has to hold his arms high in the air for a very long while.

Stand Up and Go! (2 Kings, 5:14-17; Lk 17:11-19)

by Tom McKenna, CM | October 5, 2022 | Formation, Reflections | 0 Comments

For all of us who have been through the pandemic, we know first-hand how disease and sickness have a way of separating us, how they can isolate and cut us off from the rest of life.

Acceptance — And Ingenuity (Luke 16:1-13)

by Tom McKenna, CM | September 21, 2022 | Formation, Reflections | 2 Comments

Scripture Scholars tell us that the meaning behind the word “parable” is curve, as in throwing a curve.

Never Alone (John 11:1-45)

by Tom McKenna, CM | Mar 22, 2023 | Formation, Reflections

One of the heaviest of feelings is the one of being alone. You hear it in the cry of an infant, and more generally you catch it in the forlorn look of any lonely person.

Seeing What’s There (John 9:39)

by Tom McKenna, CM | Mar 8, 2023 | Formation, Reflections

How many times have you heard people use the phrase, “I finally woke up?”

Struggles at a Well (John 4:5-42)

by Tom McKenna, CM | Feb 22, 2023 | Formation, Reflections

Some of the traits which come out in the Samaritan woman as she interacts with Jesus at the noonday well could paint her as a hard-hearted and difficult lady.

Given A Break (Ex. 22:20; Mt 22:38-40)

by Tom McKenna, CM | Nov 4, 2020 | Formation, Reflections

In his unaffected way, he was voicing a truth that runs across the whole length of the Bible and all down the avenues of our faith: “I give help because I have been helped.”

Lifting the Veil (Is. 25: 6-8; Phil 4:20; Mt 22:1-14)

by Tom McKenna, CM | Oct 21, 2020 | Formation, Reflections

One of the favorite images seen all through the Scriptures is the feast, the sumptuous banquet overflowing, as Isaiah pictures it, with “juicy, rich food and choice wines.”

A Collaborative Witness (Luke 8:1-3)

by Tom McKenna, CM | Oct 7, 2020 | Formation, Reflections

Certainly the words and actions of such groups are meant to proclaim God’s Kingdom, but their very collaboration is itself an announcement of the Message.

Magis (Matthew 20:1-16)

by Tom McKenna, CM | Sep 23, 2020 | Formation, Reflections

There is the Jesuit one-word motto, “magis,” the Latin for “more,” meant to remind them that God is always “more than,” always greater. But greater than what?

Sacramental Speaking and Listening (Ezekiel, 33; Matthew, 18)

by Tom McKenna, CM | Sep 9, 2020 | Formation, Reflections

A question often on the lips of a believer: where and how is God present in my life?

Broadening The Frame (Matthew 15:21-8)

by Tom McKenna, CM | Aug 26, 2020 | Formation, Reflections

An important element in this nurturing is what could be described as a frame, the boundaries through which they have been taught to look out at the world.