In today’s gospel we have a simple story of an encounter between Jesus and a leper. The leper did him homage and said: “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” Jesus indeed desired to cure the...
The Power of Testimony
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Friar Reflection
Peter and Paul
Peter and Paul were both apostles and saints, but they were by no means perfect! As we hear in today’s Gospel Jesus gives Simon the name Cephas or Rock (Peter) after he confesses, “You are the...
Discernment and Right Judgment
In today’s gospel Jesus admonished us, “Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.” There...
What is there to fear?
Just this past Sunday, our gospel was Jesus’ commissioning of the Twelve Apostles to begin their first mission in Galilee. As Jesus had done, “he gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive...
The Christian Prayer
What a marvelous event we see in today’s Gospel. We continue listening to the Sermon on the Mount. There are many beautiful and deep prayers in the Old Testament: SHEMA Israel (Deut 6:4-9), the Ten...
True Conversion and the Mask of Hypocrisy
Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount is a great source of joy for all. It puts us right inside the vision and thinking of God. Through Jesus’s preaching, we know our mission. Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving...
Love Your Enemies
“So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Today’s Gospel continues Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-7:28). Jesus’ teaching in today’s Gospel is the most challenging of all...
Love of God
Today is the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This feast celebrates the love of God. Today’s readings bring out that the “heart” of the Scriptures is God’s love for each one of us. God’s...
Sermon on the Mount: Our Interpersonal Relationships and our God
Today’s reading from the Gospel comes from the Sermon on the Mount which is Jesus’ image of a true human being. It is sort of a basic plan for Christian life, an x-ray of the soul. In presenting his...
Stingy is as Stingy Does
With all apologies to Forrest Gump, St. Paul's message in our first reading might well carry the moniker, “stingy is as stingy does.” In these verses, Paul speaks about the importance of generosity...
Paradoxes of Faith
St. Paul’s letters to the community in Corinth, both the 1st and 2nd letters, are addressed to men and women who had accepted the good news of Christ and were now trying to live it - not always...
The Fruitless Fig Tree and the Cleansing of the Temple
There is a lot happening in today’s Gospel. It is marvelous to see how a holiness, confidence in prayer, and the Word of God are all connected in Jesus’ words and actions. We see a Jesus in today’s...