Friar Daily Reflection
Love and Forgiveness: External Piety or Action and Service
Sometimes I think the Gospel is a collection of Jesus’ shocking attitudes, actions, and comments. Today we find Jesus in a really shocking scene. He is invited to dine in the home of a pharisee. That home and that supper would have been completely proper and formal in...
What about this generation?
In today’s Gospel, Jesus compares His generation to children in the marketplace. No matter what song is played, they refuse to respond. So Jesus offers them a new song: a lament. John the Baptist came in austerity fasting, wearing rough clothing, calling for...
The Widow
As modern-day readers of the Gospel, it is easy for us to miss the profoundness of what really happened in today’s incident from the Gospel. When a husband dies, we are accustomed to counting on life insurance, savings, Medicaid, Medicare, veteran benefits, retirement...
Behold, Your Mother
Today is the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. The Gospels, particularly the Gospels of John and Luke, bring out the sorrows and pains that Mary had to endure as she saw the great suffering of her Son. When Jesus’ parents presented him in the Jerusalem Temple the...
Journey On
A homily for the Feast of the Exaltation of the True Cross at FriarMusings.com
The Yoke
A yoke is a heavy restricting harness that is used to force large animals of burden to work together to pull heavy loads. Usually, a yoke is made of a beam of wood that rests on the oxen’s shoulder and more wood that wraps around the neck and chest to force two or...
Love Your Enemies
In today’s Gospel is Jesus’ most difficult and challenging teaching. It was difficult in the 1st century, and it is difficult in our time, especially today as we remember the terrorist attack of our enemies on 9/11. Jesus’ words are especially difficult to hear on...
Seek What Is Above
Today’s first reading from Colossians exhorts us to “seek what is above” in other words, to seek and do the will of God. We know the will of God because through our baptism we are already “living” in heaven. In baptism we die to our old self and rise to become new...
One Night of Prayer – Explosive Action: 12 Apostles, Healing, Preaching, and Curing
Once again, the Gospel relates to us a typical day in the life of Jesus at the beginning of his public ministry. And once again, we see the importance of prayer in his life and consequently in our lives as Christians. Today the Gospel story starts with one night of...
Family Stories
Today you might ask a new neighbor or a new parishioner, “Where are you from?” It is a normal question. Growing up in the South it was equally likely for someone to ask, “Who are your people?” Today’s gospel is the answer to that question, which at first hearing,...