John 20:19-31, Divine Mercy Sunday “The Incredulity of St. Thomas” is a beautiful painting that is inspired by the Gospel reading today. Painted by Caravaggio in 1602, it is one of his more famous works, supposedly copied at least 22 times in the 17th century alone. Originally done for Vincenzo Giustiniani, it is now housed in Sansscouci…
Category: Evangelist: John
Jesus’ Shalom – Bro Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP
John 20:19-31, Divine Mercy Sunday Fear is a natural and basic human emotion. Fear plays an important role in human survival because it alerts us of impending dangers or evil, and moves us to avoidance. The science of anatomy would locate the source of this emotion inside our amygdala, a primitive part of our brain…
Easter Fear or Joy – Johnny Go, SJ
John 20:1-9, Easter Sunday 2018 What is remarkable about this Gospel story is the emotion that the women experienced as a result of their discovery of the empty tomb: Fear. I wasn’t expecting that. We are told that the women were so afraid they said nothing to anyone– exactly the opposite of what the angels…
Darkness – Mark Aloysius, SJ
John 18:1-19:42, Good Friday In the novel Night, Elie Wiesel recounts his experiences of being in the concentration camps during World War II through the fictional character Eliezer, a pious Orthodox Jewish teenager. In a central event in the novel, Eliezer and the rest of the camp witness the hanging of a child, who dies…
A Body Broken for Broken People – Ro Atilano, SJ
John 13:1-15, MaundyThursday This is Mass of the Lord’s Supper. Tonight, we commemorate the evening when Jesus gathered his friends for a meal and washed their feet. Yet it was also the same evening when he was betrayed and denied by his friends whom he shared his last supper with and whose feet he washed….
They Gathered in the Twilight – James Donelan, SJ
John 13:1-15, Maundy Thursday They gathered in the twilight and lit candles. Through the window they could see the moon, large and pale on the horizon. It was the night of Passover – the most important feast on the Jewish calendar. They came together in prayer, their voices muted, their faces outlined by shadows, their…
Egypt – Jett Villarin, SJ
John 13:1-16, Maundy Thursday It must have been a strange and solemn sight for the apostles. Here they were about to do what they had done countless times before: break bread, eat bitter herbs, drink wine, and partake of the lamb in a meal that declared their deliverance from a place of slavery called Egypt….
Love Never Fails – Jacob Boddicker, SJ
John 12:20-33, Fifth Sunday of Lent “Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, ‘Sir, we would like to see Jesus.’” We would like to see Jesus. What is Jesus’ response? “The hour has come for the Son of Man…
The Face of God looks like…Japanese anime? – Jody Magtoto, SJ
John 12:22-30, Fifth Sunday in Ordinary One of the methods of prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola in the Spiritual Exercises is imaginative contemplation. The exercitant is asked to immerse himself into the Gospel scene using the imagination–seeing what the Gospel characters see and feeling feel. In using this method, the exercitant builds a relationship…
Love that Restores – Mark Lopez, SJ
John 12: 20-33, Fifth Sunday of Lent If you’ve ever felt run down, or barren inside, or destroyed, today will be a good day to pray. Today will be a good day for you to try to listen to God telling you. “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the…
Glory – Ron Rolheiser, OMI
John 12:20-33, Fifth Sunday of Lent We all nurse a secret dream of glory. We daydream that in some way we will stand out and be recognized. And so we fantasize about great achievements that will set us apart from others and make us famous. The daydreams vary but, inside them, always we are at…
Suffering – Arnel Aquino, SJ
John 12:20-23, Fifth Sunday of Lent Don’t you find it interesting that just as Jesus says his hour of “glorification” has come, in the very same breath, he talks about grain that dies before it bears fruit, and life that we must lose before we gain it back. “Glorified” means lifting up to a place…
One Lost Sheep 