Today’s readings for Mass pair Hosea and Matthew. At first glance, they seem unrelated. The Book of Hosea speaks of God courting Israel like a faithful bridegroom. The Gospel of Matthew recounts...
Speaking to the Heart
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Friar Reflection
Blessed are those…
Today is the Feast of St. Thomas the Apostles. The readings include the well known account from John 20:24-29 when Thomas, in response to the testimony of the other apostles, says: “Unless I see the...
Outsiders
In today’s readings we have two outsiders, Amos the prophet and Jesus the Son of Man. Amos was from the southern Kingdom of Judah but God sent him to the northern Kingdom of Israel. Amos condemned...
The Sleeping Lord
Our reactions to terrifying events and difficulties in life tend to show what kind of faith and relationship we have with God. People who live in natural religiosity will approach life with all its...
Finishing the Race
“I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith” (2 Tm 4:7) So wrote St. Paul in his letter to Timothy. Eric Liddle understood that. He was China-born in 1902, the son of...
Healing Touch of Mercy
Leprosy was a particularly frightful disease in the first century. Even today the word is a bit scarry. Physically it was a slow degeneration of the body but it also produced an end to all social...
Jesus is Lord!
As Jesus is nearing the end of his Sermon on the Mount (5:1-7:28) he warns religious leaders to practice what they preach and exhorts all his disciples to practice what they profess. The key phrase...
Beneath the Surface
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. One of the striking things about today’s celebration is that, although we celebrate the birth of St. John the Baptist,...
Wisdom and When
We continue to draw our gospels from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Today the Gospel is taken from Matthew 7 which is the concluding part of the Sermon. The opening verse is not the most attractive...
Stop It!
Jesus’ teaching in today’s Gospel is quite simple: “Stop it!” He knows that religious people, be they Jewish or Christian, tend to be self-righteous and judgmental. His teaching is simple and...