The gospel today is talking about vineyards. Vineyards are like a garden - sort of. Unlike a garden where you can grow all kinds of flowers and vegetables, vineyards grow one thing: grapes - and...
Pruning the Branches
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Friar Reflection
Peace
In John’s Gospel just before his passion, death, and resurrection, Jesus prepares his apostles for his imminent physical separation from them with prayer, peace, and a sign of sacrificing service....
St. Catherine of Siena
Today is the Feast Day of St. Catherine of Siena, along with St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of Italy! As a feast day, there are readings specific to the occasion, taken from the First...
In my Father’s house…
Today’s gospel also happens to be, in part, the gospel for this coming Sunday - the 5th Sunday of Easter (Year A). The gospel contains the verse we all remember from the King James translation...
Evangelist
There are many theories about St. Mark’s life and journeys. But we do know that the Gospel of St. Mark is the earliest of the four Gospels. One of the oldest traditions about Mark says that he...
Light
Light and darkness are important themes in John’s Gospel right from the beginning up to the end. Today Jesus says very clearly that his mission is to bring the light to those who are in darkness. It...
Voices
In the gospel reading for today we heard Jesus tell some bystanders who wanted Jesus to plainly say that he was the Messiah. Jesus replied: “But you do not believe because you are not among my...
God Made Me Do It!
In today’s first reading we continue to hear the story of the conversion of a Gentile, named Cornelius. Peter’s outreach to non-Jews causes some controversy for the early church who saw themselves...
Conversion
In today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles we hear the first of three different accounts of the conversion of St. Paul (Acts 9:1-20; 22:3-16; 26:2-18). Paul was a zealous persecutor of...
Outcasts
In today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles we hear how the early church continues its mission despite persecutions. Philip is one of the seven who was appointed with Stephen and the...
The Bread of Life
All of us have probably used the expression “I am dying of hunger!” While we probably were not literally dying for lack of food, we probably were very hungry. In today’s Gospel Jesus states: “I am...
The Testimony of Stephen
Stephen was brought before the Sanhedrin where, as we heard yesterday, the whole council recognized that he was like an angel. When Stephen spoke in his own defense against the false accusations, he...