In today’s gospel from Mark, Jesus continues His discourse called the Sermon on the Mount. It is from a section of the Sermon which is marked with “you have heard it said… but I say to you…” He is...
An eye for an eye
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Friar Reflection
Head or Heart
Some people lead with their heart while others are very rational and use their head in making decisions. Today’s Solemnity of the Sacred Heart might make us think that Jesus always leads with His...
The Higher Law is Love
After Jesus said that He has come to fulfill the Law and not abolish it in yesterday’s Gospel, He goes on to point out concrete cases. The first refers to the command “you should not kill.” One...
The Lens of the Covenant
The gospel text for this Wednesday of the 10th Week is taken from the “Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew’s gospel: 17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not...
Discipleship, Salt, Light
“Give Glory to God” In today’s Gospel Jesus continues his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-7:28). This Sermon begins with the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12) whereby Jesus teaches us what it means to...
Peacemaker
A Buddhist monk was asked to teach meditation at a prison near the monastery. Many of the inmates had never met a monk. After the first session, they began to ask him about his life in the...
The Christ is the Son of David
In many parts of the Gospel the most significant groups of Judaism from the time of Jesus (Pharisees, scribes, Sadducees) ask and Jesus answers. Yesterday’s Gospel was one of them. Today we hear...
The Greatest Commandment
Sometimes the Internet can overwhelm us with too much information and with dubious facts and conspiracies. We can truly lose the forest for the trees and lose sight of what is important and true! ...
I’m only asking…
The first reading for today’s Mass is from the Book of Tobit, chapter 3. There in verse 6 is a simple phrase - in the Greek it is oneidismous pseudeis. Depending on the New American Bible...
Taxes, Church and State, hypocrisy
Today’s Gospel is the classic text that is cited to describe the relationship between church and state. Jesus’ answer seems simple and direct: “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God...
A piece of the mosaic
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Visitation when the Blessed Virgin Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth immediately after the events of the Annunciation when the Angel Gabriel proclaimed the...
Trust, Prayer, and Bearing Fruit
When one hears the story of Jesus and the fig tree in today’s gospel, it has to strike you as one of the strangest in the Gospels. It seems completely out of character for Jesus to curse anything...