Today, we hear, “I am the good shepherd!” echoing God’s description of his name in the Old Testament: I am who I am. Seven times, Jesus introduces himself: “I am” – bread, life, way, truth, vine, door, good shepherd. He does not mean “good” in the sense of being patient and gentle with sheep and…
The Gospel brings the disciples of Emmaus back to the community. Now that they are all together, Jesus appears in their midst. Shocked and full of fear, they thought they were seeing a ghost. After three years with Jesus, they knew him well, preaching, healing, and breaking bread, but in this divine moment, they saw…
Hi, my name is Thomas, but truth be told, I don’t know who I am anymore. Once, I told my brother apostles to go together and die with the master while he mourned Lazarus (John 11, 16), but when I saw the soldiers arresting Jesus, I ran as if I never knew him. When I…
Mary of Magdala leaves the house when everything is dark in the sky and somber in her heart. She’s been restless all night, and the image of Jesus on the cross broke her heart. She has nothing in her hands, carries no spices like the other women, and has only her love rebelling against the…
Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem is a historical event and a parable in action. Jesus transpires affirming love; the preacher stirs joy wherever he goes, and this time, joy and biblical expectations finally meet. The teacher needs this colt but will send him right back. He is so poor that he doesn’t own even a beast…
Nicodemus holds Jesus in high esteem and wants to understand more, but not too much to compromise his position as chief Pharisee, so he goes to him at night. First surprise: the Jesus who commands “let your yes mean yes” respects Nicodemus’ dread, does not get lost in the confines of his little consistency, but…
In the center of the Gospel of Mark, we reach a mountain of light; as in a diptych, the first part of his booklet before the mountain recounts marvelous miracles with the scent of Godly love, and the second part, starting here, draws the other face of the Nazarene, He is the Son of the…
The Spirit pressed Jesus into the desert, and he remained there for forty days, tempted by Satan. The temptation? A choice between two loves. Temptation asks you to select the compass, the north star for your heart. If you don’t desire, you don’t live, at least not with a whole heart. God speaks to you…
In comes a leper, a desperate man who has lost everything: home, employment, friends, hugs, dignity, and it seems even God. This man is decaying while alive; for society, he is a sinner, rejected by God and chastised with leprosy. He approaches Jesus but knows that he mustn’t; he can’t; the law imposes absolute isolation…
Jesus had a way with heaven. People were amazed at his teaching because he was “a voice that blossoms;” while listening, we became disarmed. And the reason: because he taught with authority. Jesus is authoritative because he is credible; in him, message and messenger coincide—he says what he is, and he is what he says.…