Friar Daily Reflection
Our Lady of Sorrows
The readings today are from the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows which commemorates the Virgin Mary’s suffering during the crucifixion and death of Jesus. Its origins trace back to the 11th–12th centuries, with the Servite Order (founded in 1233) playing a key role in...
A Humble God
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The cross proclaims to us Jesus’ humility and sacrifice. The second reading from Philippians brings out the way of exaltation through humility. First the hymn proclaims the humility or self-emptying...
Stop Judging
In today’s Gospel Jesus instructs us to look at our own faults instead of focusing on the faults of another: “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?” (Luke 6:42). This saying is part of the so-called...
Living As God Lives – Living In Heaven
This week’s Gospel readings are taken from Luke’s Sermon on the Plain, a sort of mirror memory of Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount which is more extensive and complete. The Sermon on the Mount or the Plain is a description of a basic plan for Christian living and...
Lightly Held
The first reading today is from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. This is one of those Pauline passages that can sound rather alarming: “Let those having wives act as not having them, those weeping as not weeping, those rejoicing as not rejoicing…” (1 Cor...
Quiet is the Work of God
The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is one of the Church's ancient Marian celebrations. Its history is especially interesting because it begins in the Christian East, is connected with Jerusalem, and only later spreads westward to Rome. The feast appears to have...
Is It Lawful to Do Good?
In today’s Gospel Jesus is confronted by some Jewish Scribes and Pharisees. The Pharisees are a lay reform movement within Judaism who are zealous for the things of God and seek to discern and to do God’s will. The Torah commands: “Remember the sabbath day—keep it...
Jesus Blesses the Children
Many times, our modern culture and mentality do not let us to understand what is happening in the Gospel events. We end up interpreting them with our modern eyes and we lose the true meaning. Today’s Gospel is one of those moments. When we hear the story about Jesus...
Our Pride and Jesus’ Word
One day some fishermen are cleaning and mending their nets after a long night working without any success. As professional fishermen, they were experts in fishing and everything about their lake. They were prideful of their knowledge, experience, and trade. They knew...
Contagious Holiness
We all know what it means for something to be contagious. Someone in the family catches a cold, and pretty soon everybody is trying not to catch it. We keep our distance. We wash our hands. We don't want whatever that person has to spread to us. There is an...