Jesus declares in today’s Gospel: “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” In John’s Gospel truth is not an abstract...
Truth and Freedom
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Friar Reflection
Where Do You Look?
Jesus had been preparing his disciples and followers for his impending separation from them while they were on the road to Jerusalem. Today we find Jesus in Jerusalem speaking hard words to the...
Silence
There was an interesting article that appeared in this past week’s news. It was 1980 and Jimmy Carter was in the White House, bedeviled by a hostage crisis in Iran that had paralyzed his presidency...
Confidence
After having some initial conflict with the religious leaders in Jerusalem, Jesus decides to return to Galilee. There were threats of arrest and threats against his life at that time. After being...
Prayer of Petition and Service
It seems that Israel, the community of ex-slaves gathered in the desert after the Exodus, was not all that different from us today: impatient, complainers, and idolaters. Today we don’t build golden...
At work until now
The first reading today is a companion piece with yesterday’s first reading. The message of encouragement remains even as the prophet who speaks the word changes. A verse from the Gospel succinctly...
Vision and Restoration
In today’s first reading we hear from the Prophet Ezekiel. It is from the end of his prophetic writings and there is a lot of “water under the bridge” that has led to this amazing vision of a new...
You Are What You Eat
We have all heard the expression, “you are what you eat”. Indeed, doctors and nutritionists are constantly reminding us that we need to be discerning, to be careful about what we eat, as it can...
Do we really have to love a bully?
The reflection for today is from a Mass with the students and teachers from the parish elementary school. The gospel for the school Mass is the same as the gospel reading from the recent 7th Sunday...
Watch Your Language
Watch your language, the way you talk about others. These words could well be Jesus’ response to those criticizing and demonizing him in today’s Gospel. Jesus’ opponents quite literally demonize...
The Living Law: Remember and Teach It to Your Children and Grandchildren
The law in the Old Testament is the way that God gave to the people so that they could maintain a good relationship with him – a way to holiness. When Moses gives the law to the people of Israel, he...
Forgiving and Forgetting
In Teri Libenson’s newspaper comic strip, The Pajama Diaries, her adult daughter Jill discovers that her mother has found love again at 70. Jill is delighted and asks how she and Harry are getting...