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...
Watch Your Language
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Friar Reflection
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...
Living Gratefully
In the first reading, we hear the end of the story of Naaman, a Syrian general, who has just been cured of his leprosy. When Naaman comes to Israel he encounters the prophet, Elisha. Naaman has come...
God’s Vineyard
We are God’s vineyard. Jesus uses the image of the vineyard or a building to describe the People of God. Paul uses these same two images to describe Christians and their teachers in his letter to...
Recognizing the Needs of Others
In a small African village, two brothers were about to set out to make their fortune in a distant country. “Go with my blessing,” their father said, “but on your way put marks on the trees lest you...
Destroying People
The first reading today is from the Prophet Jeremiah who was among the last prophets who proclaimed the Word of God to the people of Jerusalem immediately before the city was conquered by Babylon...
Unity of Word and Life
It is easy for us to live the letter of the law and forget the Spirit behind the law, to live out only the minimum requirements. We seem to like the special distinctions, honors, and titles of the...
Be Merciful
We have all heard the phrase “Cleanliness is Next to Godliness.” In fact, this phrase never occurs in the Bible. A phrase that does occur is the one in today’s Gospel: “Be merciful, just as your...
The Heart of the Law
Todays’ Gospel comes from the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus announces God’s plan or desire for all of humanity. God originally revealed himself to Israel through the Law which was meant to produce...
Praying and Doing
In today’s Gospel Jesus teaches us about both prayer and action. Behind these two teachings is Jesus’ image of the one true God. Jesus teaches us to approach God not in fear and trembling but with...
A Second Chance
Today’s first reading begins with the seemingly benign statement: “The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.” Jonah is commanded: “Set out for the great city of Nineveh and announce to it...