vincentian spirituality

St. Paul’s image of treasure in earthen vessels reveals the mystery of human fragility inhabited by God’s inexhaustible presence. Though suffering, persecution, and weakness may crack us, divine love sustains, heals, and refills us. St. Vincent’s words echo this truth: our weakness does not prevent virtue but becomes the place where grace enables it to flourish.

Five major discourses of Jesus give form and substance to Matthews’s Gospel. The Parabolic Discourse found in chapter 13, is the third of these major teaching blocks. 

We’ve all heard the saying “I never would have guessed.” That is, what is going on at the present time would never have led me to predict this future outcome. This theme figures prominently in the stories of two early Saints, Peter and Paul.

In Matthew’s Gospel, we find an image that carries a lot of weight—if I may be permitted a play on the image.  Jesus speaks about a “yoke.”