St. Thomas gets sort of a bad rap in the general Catholic saint culture. He had been tagged in the world as “Doubting Thomas”. But if we look at all the instances when Thomas is mentioned in the...
The Faith and Trust of Thomas
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Friar Reflection
Jesus the Exorcist
In today’s Gospel Jesus performs an exorcism and drives demons out of two people possessed by these demons. The story is rich with symbolism. The story takes place in the territory of the...
Trust, Confidence, and Faith
When Jesus finished the Sermon on the Mount, he starts down to the lake. Along the way several events happen that point to the importance of trust, confidence, and faith: -he performs several more...
Following Jesus
What is a disciple of Jesus? A disciple a student and one who follows him. Jesus invites us to follow him and tells us his yoke is easy, and his burden is light. “Come to me, all you who labor and...
Love of God
Today we celebrate the love of God on this Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. St. Paul tells us in today’s second reading: “The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy...
The Dangers of Despair and Disdain
Abram reached his old age as a man of wealth, but he was a nomad and childless. He had many material goods but no land to call his own and no children. He felt that his life was a failure in regard...
False Prophets
Jesus gives us an important warning in today’s Gospel: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing.” It seems the proliferation of podcasts, tweets, and other social media has...
The New Beginning – In the Dessert
Today is a major feast in many parts of the world. In Peru it is the day of the hard-working farm laborer and the patron saint feast throughout the Amazon region. For many years it was a national...
Stop Judging
Today’s Gospel continues Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Today’s sermon is addressed to his disciples, that is to all us Christians. His teaching is simple: Stop it! “Stop judging, that you may not...
Treasures in Heaven
Today’s Gospel continues Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-7:28). In this Sermon Jesus gives us his authoritative teaching. “When he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had...
The Heart of Prayer
Prayer is a natural part of human life. It is often an expression of our natural religiosity. Prayers that arise out of our natural religiosity tend to be petitions or an attempt on our part to...
Hypocrites
In today’s Gospel Jesus warns against performing “righteous deeds” for human approval. We should not perform our “righteous deeds” or acts of piety with pomp or outward show to call attention to...