One of the key themes in the Gospel of John is the theme of witness or testimony. So, in today’s Gospel we hear: “This is the testimony of John.” This theme was already announced in the Prologue...
Witness
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Friar Reflection
In the Fullness of Time
What would you say if someone asks, can you prove that God exists? Can you provide an empirical, scientific or mathematical proof of the existence of God? St Thomas Aquinas understood that strict...
Part Time Believers
Today’s gospel is the Prologue from the Gospel of John. In part, it reads: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” … “What came to be through him was life,...
Anna and Simeon
In today’s Gospel Luke continues the description of Jesus’ Presentation in the Jerusalem Temple. In the Infancy Narrative Luke pairs two holy and devout Jews who are full of the holy Spirit. So,...
Joy Complete
Today we celebrate the Feast of St. John the Evangelist. In the midst of the Christmas season today's gospel seems out of place. It recounts Mary Magdalene's experience of Easter morning when she...
The First Martyr
Today, the day after Christmas, we move quickly from the joy of the birth of Jesus to the story of the first Christian martyr, St. Stephen. Out 1st reading today from the Acts of the Apostles tells...
The Canticle of Zechariah – Hope
Zechariah was the father of John the Baptist. He was born into the clan of temple priests who served in the temple in Jerusalem according to shifts. He and his wife, Elizabeth, did not have a son....
A question as old as the ages
In the midst of all the wonder and excitement of the birth of a child, it is a natural question to ask: “What will this child be?” Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor? Loving, kind, gentle, brave? …....
The Annunciation – Living in The Protecting Shadow
I don’t know if any of you have had the opportunity to live in a desert. When I was 25, I went to live in the friars’ Navajo mission along the New Mexico and Arizona border for two consecutive...
The Annunciation
In today’s Gospel we hear an Annunciation Story. It is not the Annunciation Story to Mary of the birth of Jesus but the Annunciation Story to the priest Zechariah of the birth of John the Baptist. ...
St. Joseph: Righteousness, Trust and Obedience
This season of Advent is a time of preparation to receive the Prince of Peace in our hearts and family. It is a season that is full of joy and many preparations: cards, food, decorations, buying...
Genealogy of Hope
The gospel for today is St. Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus. It is Matthew's way of showing how Jesus fulfills the Old Testament storyline and takes up the first 17 verses of the gospel - and since...