This past Ash Wednesday all were welcomed to receive ashes since all of us are both saints and sinners. As we receive ashes Jesus invites us to “Repent and believe in the Gospel,” or “Turn and put...
Ashes and Blessings
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Friar Reflection
Jesus Brings All People Together
As human beings, we tend to choose division, to choose our own personal needs over the needs of others and to impose our will on everyone else. This is called the way of sin. We Catholics called...
One Man’s Faith Shared Publicly
Today’s feast refers to Peter’s chair as the teaching chair of a professor or the presiding chair of a bishop. It is the chair of authority regarding teaching and doctrine. The importance of Peter’s...
Sign of Jonah
What is the sign of Jonah that Jesus mentions in today’s Gospel? He tells the crowd: “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of...
Power and Life
Today’s first reading is one of my favorite chapters of the Old Testament: Isaiah 55. It always reminds me of the parable of the Sower and the Seed from the gospels with the Word of God being sent...
The Judgment
Today’s readings teach us God’s will and the criterion on which we will be judged at the end of time. In the first reading from Leviticus God calls us to be his holy people: “Be holy, for I, the...
Fasting
Today’s readings deal with the question of when to fast and how to fast. Jesus is challenged because his disciples do not undertake special fasting: “Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your...
Life and Prosperity or Death and Doom
Here we are in the first days of Lent, the beginning of our road to Jerusalem. Today Moises appears in our Lenten way. Moses is very clear when proclaiming God’s Word to the Israelites and to us....
Ash Wednesday
“Repent and believe in the Gospel.” There are the words the minister proclaims as we receive ashes on Ash Wednesday. These words are taken from the Gospel of Mark, the whole verse begins with a...
Temptation
The first reading today and all this week is from the Letter of James. Today’s “installment” is just one of many insights the letter carries about the human condition: “Blessed is he who perseveres...
Testing
Both of today’s readings reflect on the mystery of faith. In today’s Gospel the Pharisees seek “a sign from heaven to test him [Jesus].” He refuses to give them a sign since he has already given...
Deafness
Today readings have something to say about deafness. The story in the gospel reading is straightforward: a deaf/mute person is healed by Jesus’ touch as He proclaims: “Ephphatha.” The gospel verses...