When I was a year or two short of being a full-fledged teenager, I was invited to attend my first funeral. It was not a Catholic funeral - and as I came to know - nothing like a Catholic funeral. It...
Woe to you!
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Friar Reflection
Prayer and Justice
Isaiah’s words in today’s first reading are very shocking: “When you spread out your hands, I close my eyes to you; Though you pray the more, I will not listen.” Isaiah is warning the people that...
The Garden
In today’s first reading, we bring a week of Hosea to a close. The choice of readings paints an image of life with and without God. Monday: God spoke words of faithful, loyal love. “I will espouse...
Mercy of God
Today we continue to read from the prophet Hosea. This book is a love story, although sometimes it may seem like a soap opera. It is the story of a spouse who is unfaithful but is forgiven and...
Twelve Apostles
Today’s Gospel describes the first commissioning of the Twelve Apostles. Jesus actually sends his disciples twice, once in today’s reading (10:1-7) and the second time in the so-called the “Great...
Reap the Whirlwind
In today’s first reading, the Northern Kingdom of Israel is being warned about the choices they have made and are making - and the consequences of those choices should they continue. As a whole,...
Hope
Amid his daughter’s sickness the synagogue official had hope. His faith formed the central part of his life. He organized everything around that center point of faith. His faith and hope pushed him...
The Public Sinner
When we think of Jesus’ miracles, we usually think of the curing of sick people, the calming of the storm, or the raising of the dead. Today we see another miracle. Matthew was a tax collector for...
God or King?
In today’s first reading the prophet Amos is accused of treason against the Israelite king Jeroboam by the priest Amaziah: “Amos has conspired again you… For this is what Amos says: Jeroboam shall...
Doubting Thomas or Believing Thomas?
Today is the feast of the apostle Thomas, popularly known as doubting Thomas. Why? Because as we hear in today’s Gospel Thomas declared: “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my...
The Storm: Terror or Faith
Once again Jesus shows his disciples and us who he really is. In a boat on the Sea of Galilee suddenly surrounded and overwhelmed by a storm, the disciples who as fishermen, would have known the...
Voices that Disturb
If you lived in the northern part of Israel some 750 years before Jesus, you were living during the reign of King Jeroboam II. The economy is good, the neighboring countries are envious of your...