vincentian spirituality

Years ago, walking along a crowded beach, I came upon a group of people gathered around a crying, screaming child.

“They recounted how…he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.”

In Luke’s 15th chapter, Jesus relates his perhaps most famous parable, aiming to open another window onto the Kingdom of God, especially its meaning for the present.

Through the ages, the episode of Moses and the burning bush has figured into the religious experience of many.

In a Lukan parable, Jesus uses the image of “storing,” accumulating and building up a certain quality inside one’s heart. 

“Call,” a notion that figures prominently in the Scriptures, God summoning people to change direction. Heading nowhere in particular, someone senses an inner prod to take some new course.

I can imagine Peter’s consternation when Jesus challenges him to head out one more time. Likely shaking his head, Peter nonetheless gives his “ok, one more!” 

“Taking in the news.” It can refer to events both good and bad, taking in the news of a baby’s birth, for instance, or at the other end, receiving word of a loved one’s passing.

A gift – something given over freely, with good will and coming not from obligation but from good will and esteem. It raises the question: of all the gifts to receive, which would be the most valuable and precious?