The Epistle of James is very tough on the rich as we hear in today’s first reading: “Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries. Your wealth has rotted away…” James seems to be...
Weep and Wail
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Friar Reflection
What life will be like…
Today’s first reading continues to work its way through the Letter of James. 13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we shall go into such and such a town, spend a year there doing business,...
Fallible Shepherds
In today’s first reading St. Peter exhorts the church leaders to “tend the flock of God.” Peter, through his own experience, knows what it means to both confess Christ and to deny Christ. He...
Wisdom and Understanding
From our first reading today: “Who among you is wise and understanding?” (James 3:13a) That is not the kind of question for which people are going to raise their hands and cry out “Me!!.” But it is...
Faith and Works
If you grew up in the South in the 1950s and 1960s and were Catholic, you were someone who needed to be saved, at least in the estimation of your Reformed, Protestant and Evangelical brothers and...
Be Healed
Some interesting aspects of the story of this healing. It shows how considerate Jesus was. He took the man aside from the crowd probably because He knew that He was going to give the man his sight...
For what should we pray?
The first reading all week is from the Letter of James. Today’s “installment” is just one of many insights the letter carries about the human condition: “Blessed is he who perseveres in temptation”...
Rich and Poor
In yesterday’s Gospel Jesus declared: “woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation” (Luke 6:24). In today’s first reading James exhorts his brothers and sisters, “Those in lowly...
Ephphatha – Be Opened
Today’s Gospel contains the strange word “Ephphatha.” This Aramaic word is translated “be opened.” Aramaic was the language that Jesus and his fellow Jews spoke in their everyday discourse. ...
A Savior for All
One of the main messages of today’s Gospel passage is that Jesus is a Savior for all, both Jews and non-Jews. Remember, the gospel of Mark was mainly written to share the gospel with non-Jews, so...
Finding the Soul Inside of Us
In a venerable synagogue in Prague, there is a display of paintings and drawings by children. It’s a lovely exhibit – until you realize that the children who created these pictures all perished in...
Prayer
Why do we pray? We have many different reasons to pray. At times we pray to give glory and praise to God and to thank God for the many gifts God has bestowed on us. We also pray to make our needs...