Mary Magdalene went to the tomb of Jesus expecting only death. She went full of overpowering grief and sadness. All of her hopes about a savior and messiah were destroyed by death. She arrives at...
Grief and New Life
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Friar Reflection
Resurrection Faith
Today’s gospel from St. Matthew is familiar to all readers: Jesus has been crucified, died, and laid within a tomb guarded by soldiers and watched by Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary.” The...
We mourn his passing
This was the pontiff who took the name “Francis” in homage to Catholicism’s most iconic and beloved saint, the “little poor man” of Assisi; the pope who rejected the marble and gold of the Papal...
Love and Betrayal
Today is known as “spy Wednesday” and we see Judas setting up Jesus’ arrest with the religious leaders. There are hundreds of theories about why Judas betrayed Jesus. The Gospel simply says he was a...
Will you sing?
The refrain from today’s psalm is “I will sing of your salvation.” Will you? If you are the average Catholic your answer might be “yes” but I wonder what you answer would be if the question was...
Anointing
In today’s Gospel Mary performs a loving and prophetic action. “Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil…and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair.” Her actions provoked...
Trust and Faith
Life is full of difficulties and rarely goes as we plan or as we want. This can produce in us a lot of different attitudes: despair, anger, sadness, dullness, insensibility, apathy, restlessness, or...
I Am
In today’s Gospel Jesus proclaims his divinity by speaking like God. In the book of Exodus God reveals himself to Moses with the following words: “I am who I am…This is what you will tell the...
Enslaved
If you are attentive to the gospel readings so far this week it is clear that there is controversy in the air. The gospels are from John 8 and follow immediately upon the scene of the “woman caught...
Complaining or Looking Towards the Savior
On our journey together towards Holy Week and Easter, the Word of God reminds us of the attitude of the people of Israel who had just experienced the saving power of God who brought them out of...
The Light of the World
In today’s Gospel Jesus declares: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” We have all had the experience of being in the dark...
Come, and You Will See
In today’s Gospel we discover more and more about Jesus as we come with the first disciples to question and see Jesus: “‘Rabbi’…where are you staying?’ He said to them, “Come, and you will see.”...