Today we celebrate the feast of Mary, the Mother of the Church. It is a Marian feast added to the liturgical calendar by Pope Francis in 2018. Yesterday, on Pentecost Sunday we celebrated the...
Mary, Mother of the Church
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Friar Reflection
Forgiveness and Reconciliation
Sometimes forgiveness is easy but sometimes forgiveness can be difficult or even impossible. Jesus seems to find it easy to forgive while still taking seriously the offense. Peter’s offense is...
Living in Hope
In Barbara Kingsolver’s novel Animal Dreams, Hallie offers this advice to her struggling sister Cadie: “The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. And the most you...
Oneness and Charity
“...so that they may be one just as we are one...” (John 17:11). The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) para. 811 holds that the four marks of the Church are: one, holy, catholic and apostolic...
How we think of her
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Visitation when the Blessed Virgin Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth. It is but one piece of the mosaic of this woman. Today’s gospel passage, the Magnificat is a...
What I Might Find Out
“In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.” - such are the closing words of today’s Gospel. Now I have the odd problem, but if people asked me if I had...
St. Augustine of Canterbury
Today there is an optional memorial for St. Augustine of Canterbury. I think it is good that we know a little more about our ancestors in the Faith - especially the missionary one. It seems...
The Light of the World
In today’s first reading we meet the Jewish Christian missionary couple Aquila and Priscilla. The Emperor Claudius had expelled them and other Jews and Jewish Christians out of Rome. Paul now...
When Jesus Interrupts Our Lives
A woman in need of help saw a row of cars parked at a church at noontime. Hoping that someone there might be able to help, she went inside and found a group gathered in a small meeting room. She...
Preparing For the Holy Spirit
Today’s Gospel takes place at the Last Supper just after Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The disciples and many in Jerusalem saw that entry as a turning moment in their history when God...
St. Bernardino of Siena
Today is the feast day of the Franciscan Bernardino of Siena, OFM, (sometimes Bernardine). He was an Italian priest, missionary, and a Catholic saint most noted for his preaching and evangelizing...
Sharing Easter Joy
It is rather difficult to talk about the resurrection in general terms. How can we explain it? Even the symbols that we use, which are beautiful and ornate, seem to be inadequate: Easter bunnies,...