Today’s Gospel presents us with two holy and righteous Jews, the priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth. Luke describes their holiness: “Both were righteous in the eyes of God, observing all the...
Zechariah and Elizabeth
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Friar Reflection
Do What Is Just; For My Salvation Is About to Come
December is a time of planning – often the planning starts in September or October. Typically, we spent a lot of time in this season planning for all the celebrations: Christmas, New Year, and...
John the Baptist
Did John the Baptist fully understand Jesus? In today’s Gospel Jesus describes John as a prophet and more than a prophet. Jesus quotes Scripture to describe him: “Behold, I am sending my messenger...
Are You the One Who Is to Come?
In today’s Gospel we hear John the Baptist asking Jesus, are you the one who is to come, or are we to look for another? Some have been concerned about these remarks because they seem to suggest...
Father and Son
In today’s Gospel Jesus takes an example from everyday family life: “A man had two sons…”. One son started in disobedience, “I will not,” but ended in obedience, “afterwards he changed his mind and...
The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
From our first reading: “Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day, and they shall be his people, and he will dwell among you” (Zech 2:15) When I was in Kenya, I remember the first...
Busyness
There is a lot going on this week: nation remembers Pearl Harbor, the church remembers St. Ambrose, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and the Season of Advent continues. We all are getting...
Come To Me
Today the Lord calls all to be part of his life, to center our lives in him. In the midst of all of life’s difficulties, setbacks, and tragedies, we often feel crushed. With Jesus as our center, we...
Each One Is Important
There are several lessons in today’s Gospel reading: The love of God is an individual love. Like any parent, each person in the family is important, each child. The parent will do all that is...
Forgiveness
Who can forgive? Of course, all of us can forgive one another but at times we find forgiveness difficult if not impossible. Who can forgive sins? The answer, of course, is God alone can forgive...
Two Blind Men
In today’s Gospel two blind men cry out to Jesus; they want to be healed: “Son of David, have mercy on us!” Their cry for healing has long been a part of our liturgy. At the beginning of the...
The Entrance into The Kingdom
It is easy for us throw back our feet and have an attitude of resting up. Often, we tell ourselves that we are baptized and that’s it. We think I have been saved and justified. We tell ourselves: I...