Posts by Paul Verderber
Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church
On this memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, I reflect on Mother Mary’s as the first follower of Jesus, her son. Today’s Gospel takes us to the foot of the cross. Most of Jesus’ supporters have taken off, either scared or disillusioned, or both. Their vision of a new king, and…
Read MoreSaying Goodbye
For me, the common theme of today’s readings is “saying our goodbyes”. But not our goodbyes before a trip to the beach, or to visit Disneyland or to go to work or school. Rather, a goodbye to those we love, here on Earth, as death approaches. Paul’s Highlights In the first reading, Paul gathered the local…
Read MoreAfter the Twelve Apostles
Happy Feast Day of Saint Matthias, who was one of the twelve apostles. He is not the most widely known or discussed saint and apostle, but he played a critical role in the early Church. His is a positive legacy of two thousand years. Replacement Jesus had ascended to Heaven, Judas was dead and the…
Read MoreGet Back Up
In the first reading today, Saint Paul gets stoned by the local population, and is thrown out of town like rubbish. They believe he is dead. God was not done with Paul yet, as he still had lots of evangelizing to do, and more suffering to endure. He gets up, dusts himself off, and gets…
Read MoreThe Truth Will Set You Free
Written by Paul Verderber…writing for Kelly Vardakas who was unavailable John writes about Jesus in today’s Gospel as follows…. “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” This sure sounds reasonable and well thought out. It sounds like…
Read MoreWhat’s in a Name?
Many have said that the sweetest sound, in any language, is the sound of one’s own name. A name is an attention-getter. A lost child hearing his name called by his mother, a greeting in an airport or bus station or in a mall, or the cheers of a crowd…all these events produce a joyous reaction…
Read MoreInvite a Priest to Dinner
Hello GVM Reflection Readers, and Grace to you. Please note that we continue to fine tune and improve (hopefully) your experience on the GVM website. Give it a look, and let us know what you think. We are trying to highlight the reflection writers more, and you’ll see other updates. Today’s Gospel speaks of the…
Read MoreLet it Shine
Hello, Father Justino was unavailable this month, so I’ll be writing for January 28th. We expect him to be available for February 28th. I really like Mark’s Gospel reading for today, and it hits me right from the first line “Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket or under a…
Read MoreLend a Hand
Hello GVM Community, and Grace to You! Mr. Tom Nash was unavailable to do a reflection this month, so I’m filling in for him. He’ll be back for his February 20th Reflection. Before I begin today’s reflection, I would like to remind you to explore the GVM website, where we have posted a video link…
Read MoreFind What We Look For
Happy New Year to all of the Gratia Vobis Ministries reflection readers, and Grace to You. When I was growing up, we took yearly trips from our family home to my grandparents’ homes in the Cleveland, Ohio, USA area. Depending on where we lived at the time, the trip would be at least 8 hours…
Read More