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,...
Lightly Held
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Friar Reflection
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...
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...
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....
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....
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...
Authority and Jesus’ Word
The religious leaders of Jesus’ time had become guardians of tradition and rules. Those traditions and their own lifestyles had degenerated into a repetition of a boring life, boring preaching, and...
When the Word Disagrees with Me
Today’s gospel is the familiar story of Jesus in his home town synagogue in Nazareth. He proclaims, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the...
Become Wise
Today’s reflection is based on Matthew 25:1-13, the Parable of the Ten Virgins, and is part of our parish elementary school Friday Mass celebration. I grew up in Florida, where hurricanes were...
Vigilance
The attitude of constant vigilance is basic for a truly Christian life. Jesus uses two parables today to call us to a life of vigilance: the vigilant master of the house guarding against thieves and...