VEYM LEAGUE OF CHAPTERS
Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus demonstrates his authority over nature by walking on the sea. Water is, throughout the Scriptures, a symbol of danger and chaos. At the very beginning of time, when all was a formless waste, the Spirit of the Lord hovered over the surface of the waters. This signals … Read moreSaturday, April 22, 2023
Bishop Robert Barron Friends, today’s Gospel tells of the feeding of the five thousand, which is a type of the Mass. Jesus is interested not only in instructing the crowds but also in feeding them. Copying this rhythm, the Mass moves from the Liturgy of the Word to the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The disciples … Read moreFriday, April 21, 2023
Bishop Robert Barron Friends, today’s Gospel promises eternal life to those who believe in the Son of God. In almost every religion, the life of faith has something to do with a creature’s relationship to the Creator; nearly all religions speak of the creature’s dependency upon God, of his subjection to the divine providence, and … Read moreThursday, April 20, 2023
Bishop Robert Barron Friends, today in the Gospel, Jesus delineates the nature of his mission: “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” In his passion to set right a disjointed universe, God broke open his own … Read moreWednesday, April 19, 2023
Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus declares that he must be lifted up to bring eternal life to believers. Why would God’s salvation of the human race have to include something as horrifying as crucifixion? We live in a time when the human predicament is regularly denied, explained away, or ignored. Despite the … Read moreTuesday, April 18, 2023
Bishop Robert Barron Friends, today in this inexhaustibly rich conversation with Nicodemus in the Gospel, Jesus tells the Israelite elder: “Unless one is born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” He is speaking with great directness here about metanoia, about the change of attitude required before one is capable of living in … Read moreMonday, April 17, 2023
Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Thomas says that he will not believe in the Lord’s Resurrection unless he puts his finger in Jesus’ nailmarks and his hand in Jesus’ side. Thomas is a saint especially suitable for our time. Modernity has been marked by two great qualities: skepticism and empiricism, the very qualities … Read moreSunday, April 16, 2023
Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, the risen Lord commissions the eleven Apostles to proclaim the Good News to everyone. And this commission to evangelize the people of the world extends to all baptized Christians. To evangelize is to proclaim Jesus Christ crucified and risen from the dead. When this kerygma, this Paschal Mystery, … Read moreSaturday, April 15, 2023
Bishop Robert Barron Friends, today’s Gospel tells of the appearance of the risen Jesus to seven disciples by the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Peter and six other Apostles were in a boat on the sea. Seeing Peter and the disciples in a boat, we are meant to think of the Church, and the … Read moreFriday, April 14, 2023
Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus appeared alive again to his followers. Upon seeing him, “they were startled and terrified.” They are terrified because the one they abandoned and betrayed and left for dead is back—undoubtedly for revenge! Luke’s risen Jesus does two things in the presence of his shocked followers. The first … Read moreThursday, April 13, 2023