The daily readings are never meant to be a Bible Study per se, but unless one has a sense of the book or scroll from which it is taken, I think people unfamiliar with, e.g., the prophet Jeremiah,...
Distant Promises
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Friar Reflection
Little Faith
Today’s Gospel seems to be a “Ghost Story.” At least that is what the disciples think when they see Jesus walking on the water! They cry out terrified: “It is a ghost!” In fact, it is Jesus...
Memorial of St. Alphonsus Ligouri
St. Alphonsus is the patron saint of moral theologians. In his day, Alphonsus strove to free the Church from a moral theology that was ever more influenced by something called Jansenism. What is...
It’s About Hospitality
In this book Passion for Pilgrimage: Meditations on the Easter Mystery, Episcopal priest and dean emeritus of San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral Alan Jones reflects on the practice of Gospel-centered...
The New and the Old
Jesus asks us in today’s Gospel if we “understand all these things.” Do we understand Jesus’ interpretation of the Parable of the Weeds growing among Wheat and the Parable of the Net that collects...
Having a bad day
In today’s first reading, Jeremiah is having a bad day - maybe a bad year. He is at the end of his rope in dealing with the people of Judah and Jerusalem in his role of prophet. Jeremiah was not a...
Weeds and Wheat
In today’s Gospel Jesus explains the Parable of the Weeds among the Wheat. In this parable Jesus gives us his vision of what the church is or what it should be. While eventually the weeds are...
Jars of Clay
Today’s first reading is one of my favorite passages from St. Paul: “We hold this treasure in earthen vessels” (2 Cor 4:7). It points out one of the great paradoxes of this life of discipleship: it...
Not Just Prayer but Prayerfulness
There are at least two important teachings in today’s Gospel, that are connected. The first is about prayer. “Blessed are your eyes because they see and your ears because they hear”. Benedictine...
The Eternal
Before a baby is born, they are such a wonderful mystery. Though we can get a “peek” at them through ultrasound images, hear their heartbeat with a doppler, and speculate about what they might look...
Who Is My Mother
What does it mean to be related to Jesus? In today’s Gospel Jesus puts this question to the crowd: “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” Jesus replies that whoever does God’s will is related...
The Verdict
This summer we have taken time to consider the first reading from daily Mass. The reading from the Prophet Micah is well matched to the Gospel in which the scribes and the Pharisees are asking for a...