Friar Daily Reflection
Finding your way
As you may or may not know, in days long past, I served aboard U.S. nuclear submarines. There are lots of sea stories that I can tell. There are lots of questions I am asked about life aboard a submarine: how a submarine operates, if I did this one thing or another,...
Belonging To God – The Royal Priesthood
St. Peter makes some dramatic and profound statements in today’ first reading. Israel had a special covenant relationship with God. They were God’s chosen people. Their mission as a nation was to be a sign of God’s presence in the world. Their relationship with God...
Born Again
In today’s first reading from 1 Peter the author reflects on the meaning of our baptism, the meaning of being born again or born anew. It is the Word of God that gives us this new life: “You have been born anew, not from perishable but from imperishable seed, through...
Holy Living
Our first reading today, 1 Peter 1:10–16, comes near the beginning of the letter and follows Peter’s reflection on the living hope Christians have through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It has some expressions that might strike the modern listener as odd and so I...
Mary, Mother of the Church
Today we celebrate both Memorial Day and the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church. Following on the Feast of Pentecost yesterday we continue to reflect today on the mystery of the church. In today’s Gospel Mary is interpreted symbolically as the...
One in Christ
As Christians we live in communion with God. Our baptism makes us part of God’s life. We are grafted into the life of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, just as a gardener grafts a new branch onto a rose bush. Many people see God as being separate and far away...
Pharisees
In today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles Paul defends himself before the Jewish Sanhedrin. He claims he is on trial for his belief in the resurrection: “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees; I am on trial for hope in the resurrection of...
Sent With Joy And Truth
Today we see Jesus at the Last Supper with the apostles in Jerusalem imparting his last catechesis, prayer, and blessings on them. Being a farewell message, you would think it would have to be a message filled with a heavy sense of grief and sadness. Yet taken...
The High Priestly Prayer
Over that last two weeks and more we have heard passages from the Gospel of John that together are known as the “Farewell Discourse.” The discourse covers four chapters and often seems to be repetitively redundant. Today’s gospel is known as the beginning of the...
Widows and Orphans
The words of today’s Psalm reveal something essential about the heart of God: “The father of orphans and the defender of widows is God in his holy dwelling. God gives a home to the forsaken.” This is not a small theme hidden in Scripture. It is one of the great...