VEYM LEAGUE OF CHAPTERS
Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus calls us his friends. Psychologists tell us that a true friend is someone who has seen us at our worst and still loves us. If you have encountered me only on my best days, I have no guarantee that you are my friend. But when you have … Read moreFriday, May 12, 2023
Bishop Robert Barron Friends, two words surface frequently in today’s Gospel: joy and commandments. Now, I submit to you that these are not terms that we would readily juxtapose. We usually associate commandments with the carrying out of duty and responsibility, or laying down the law and establishing order and discipline. But all of this … Read moreThursday, May 11, 2023
Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus declares that he is the vine and we are the branches who must remain in him. If we ourselves do not participate in who Jesus was, we miss the spiritual power that he meant to unleash. If John’s Gospel is any indication, Jesus does not want worshipers … Read moreWednesday, May 10, 2023
Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus promises his Second Coming. In one sense, Christianity is a religion of fulfillment (the Lord has come), but in another sense, it is a religion of waiting, for we expect the Second Coming of Jesus in the fullness of his power. We wait and watch and keep … Read moreTuesday, May 9, 2023
Bishop Robert Barron Friends, we see in our Gospel reading that the Holy Spirit’s principal sign is love. The night before he died, Jesus told his friends the deepest truths. He spoke of himself, his Father, and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the love that connects the Father and the Son. From all … Read moreMonday, May 8, 2023
Bishop Robert Barron Friends, today in the Last Supper discourse, Jesus reveals the mutual indwelling—the coinherence—of the Father and the Son. John Dunne told us that “no man is an island.” Rather, we are all interconnected. How do we identify ourselves? Almost exclusively through the naming of relationships. Coinherence is indeed the name of the … Read moreSunday, May 7, 2023
Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “Whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.” When we pray in the name of Jesus, we are relying on his intimacy with the … Read moreSaturday, May 6, 2023
Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” Either Jesus is who he says he is (in which case we are obliged to give our whole lives to him), or he is a madman (in which case we should be against him). What does … Read moreFriday, May 5, 2023
Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus announces his betrayal just after transforming bread and wine into his Body and Blood. It is of great moment that, immediately after this extraordinary event, Jesus speaks of treachery: “The one who ate my food has raised his heel against me.” In the biblical reading, God’s desires … Read moreThursday, May 4, 2023
Bishop Robert Barron Friends, today we read the wonderful and mysterious passage from the fourteenth chapter of John’s Gospel. The disciples are gathered around Jesus at the Last Supper, abiding in intimacy with him, asking questions and seeking wisdom. Then listen to Jesus’ words: “If you know me, then you will also know my Father. … Read moreWednesday, May 3, 2023