The Vineyard Laborer

The Road to Jerusalem Luke 9:51-62 13 th Sunday in Ordinary Time Introduction Today’s Gospel speaks about Jesus’ resolute will to head to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was to be the place where he would suffer and die. His determination to head to the city of David speaks of the urgency of this task and his single mindedness to fulfill his mission. The Gospel Today’s Gospel was written by Luke the evangelist. Luke tells us that when the time drew near when Jesus would be taken up to heaven, he made up his mind to go to Jerusalem. But before that, Jesus and his disciples had to pass by a Samaritan village. Jesus sends ahead of him some messengers who entered a Samaritan village to prepare a lodging for him. But the people in that village refused to receive him as they came to know that he was headed towards Jerusalem. Samaritans and Jews in those days were at odds with one another. Samaritans were generally unfriendly to Jews heading to Jerusalem as they passed ...

This is My Body; This is My Blood Lk 9:11b-17 Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ Introduction Today is the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. For us, the body and blood of Christ is made present in the Holy Eucharist during the celebration of the Holy Mass. The reading today speaks about the Multiplication of the bread, a reading that speaks to us about the Eucharist. The Gospel Our Gospel begins with Jesus speaking to the crowd about the Kingdom of God. He also healed those who needed to be cured. One could imagine the crowd that wanted to hear and be cured by him.   As the day drew to a close, the twelve approached Jesus and said: “ dismiss the crowd so that they can go to the surrounding villages and farms and find lodging and provisions; for we are in a deserted place here.” The twelve must have been alarmed at the sight of a huge crowd who were still there. They were in a deserted place, far away from a...

The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity Jn 16: 12 – 15 Introduction             Today is Trinity Sunday. We celebrate this feast of God, as we know him to be; as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The life of God is one of communion but most of all, it is one of love because God is love. The Gospel In today’s Gospel, we hear Jesus speaking to his disciples about how much more he wanted to tell them. He then refrains from doing so, knowing quite well that it would have been too much for his disciples to bear. Jesus says: “ I have much more to tell you but you cannot bear it now. “ Jesus knows our limitations. The human mind and the human heart have their own limits and tolerance level and Jesus is well aware of this. Not bothered at all with such human limitations, Jesus assures them nonetheless that all the truths that he wanted to say and tell his disciples will be said ...

Receive the Holy Spirit Jn 20: 19 - 23 Solemnity of Pentecost Introduction Today is Pentecost Sunday. It is a day when we remember how the Spirit was sent and given to the apostles. In today’s reading in the Gospel of John, the Spirit is given to the apostles with Jesus breathing on them. The Spirit is the breath of God. He is the Spirit who breathes new life to the Church. The Gospel (An alternative reading is Jn 14: 15 – 16, 23b – 26) Today’s reading is taken from the Gospel of John. In John’s Gospel, the sending of the Holy Spirit to the apostles happens when the risen Jesus appears before them. As the gospel narrates, it was evening that day, the first day of the week when the disciples met behind locked doors for fear of the Jews. Jesus had just been crucified and the trauma of his cruel and brutal death was still upon his disciples. They feared the Jews because they were afraid that they would be apprehended and...