What the teacher had done was prepare him to see. She had given him a way to notice more of what was there.
vincentian spirituality
Intertwining Worlds (John 18: 33-37)
More than most any other, the feast of Christ the King immerses us in this swirling dilemma of negotiating worlds.
Acting Out (Mark 12:38-44)
When you hear that someone is “acting out” it usually isn’t heard as a compliment.
The Feast of the Holy Trinity: Come On In
“Come on In” (Ex 34, 2 Cor 13, John 3:16) The Feast of the Holy Trinity is an especially daunting one for the preacher. How even to touch on it, this Mystery of mysteries? A tentative step is by way of the imagination, and so I ask you to put yourself imaginatively...
400-Year Legacy of Charity & Vincentian Spirituality
Did you know that on the grounds of St. Vincent’s Seminary and the Vincentian Family Office in Philadelphia, adjacent to the Shrine of the Miraculous Medal, there is a more than 100-year-old oak tree grown from a seed of St. Vincent’s oak which still stands near his...
Emmaus and The Eucharist
Emmaus and The Eucharist (Lk 24:13-35) Many people’s favorite story in the New Testament is the one of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. It contains so much of everyone’s experience of what it is to believe -- and certainly touches on the belief of a...
Past Filling Present (I Corinthians 15:1-2)
Past Filling Present (I Corinthians 15:1-2) At this jubilee time we come to celebrate so many years of Vincentian service and gospel witness, years that number up into the hundreds. And as with any anniversary it’s a time to look back to all that’s happened, but also...
Framing The Scene
Framing The Scene (John 11:1-45) I remember a wise person once telling me that there’s no such thing as an un-interpreted fact. Everything you see out there you see through some kind of frame, some angle of approach that not only affects how you see, but more...
Letting Truth Appear
Letting Truth Appear (John 8:31-42) It’s not often I get stunned by the cover of a magazine, but the one on Time in late March accomplished that. In dark letters set against a darker background was the question, “Is Truth Dead?” The phrase caught a feeling I only half...
The Defining Backdrop
The Defining Backdrop (Gen. 17:5-9; Jn. 17) In the middle of Genesis, we come across the classic phrasing of a central theme running all through both Testaments of the bible, the Covenant. After telling Abraham He will make him the father of nations, Yahweh says, “I...
Vincentian Discernment: Following The Leader
Vincentian Discernment: Following The Leader (Genesis 11:1-9) One of the keys to the story of the tower of Babel is the contrast in it between two lines of thought, one in the incident itself and the other coming a few chapters later in Genesis. In the first the...
Gospel Stretching: Wideness
Gospel Stretching (Mark 6:1-6) There’s a wideness in God’s mercy, like the wideness of the Sea. So begins the famous hymn written by Frederick Faber two centuries ago. Freeing and refreshing and life-giving and promising as it sounds, wideness can...
