Friar Daily Reflection
Obstinate
According to Merriam Webster, obstinate: “stubbornly adhering to an opinion, purpose, or course in spite of reason, arguments, or persuasion.” Pharaoh is pretty stubborn. He dug his heels in even when faced with the amazing displays of divine power from the God of...
Praise God
In today’s Gospel Jesus prays and gives praise to his heavenly Father with these words: “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth.” Jesus stands in wonder before his Father’s ways. With childlike simplicity God reveals himself as a God of love, mercy,...
Salt and Light for Our Times
St. Bonaventure was a very intelligent, studious friar scholar and administrator. He lived for a short 53 years. The last 17 years of his life he was Minister General of the Franciscan order. He was a friar during the times after St Francis’ death when the Franciscan...
The Household of Faith
“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me...” (Mt 10:37) I think there is a tendency among believers that when we hear those words, we respond with, what I call, “the holy nod.” It is our reflexive response: Jesus said it, it must be true,...
Apostles
In today’s Gospel Jesus commissions and sends out the Twelve to be his witnesses. The word “apostle” comes from the Greek verb “to send” (apostellõ). Jesus tells the Apostles: “Behold, I am sending (apostellõ) you like sheep in the midst of wolves.” Who are these...
Sent Out – Mission
Today we listen to Matthew’s version of the first sending-out of the disciples. It is the same story we heard last Sunday from Luke. Being sent out to proclaim the Good News is at the heart of what the Church is. Proclaiming our faith experience is the reason for...
The Path to Blessing
Yesterday, the first reading was the story of Jacob wrestling with the divine. In yesterday’s reflection, in part, we considered that some modern scholars interpret the episode as an inner struggle—a symbolic rendering of Jacob's crisis of identity before again...
Championship Wrestling
Growing up in Florida in the early 1960s, one of the staples of Saturday television programming was “Championship Wrestling from Florida” with Gordon Solie as host and play-by-play announcer. The show was filled with heroes and villains and served as a televised...
Stairway to Heaven
Today’s first reading from Genesis is the story of Jacob’s ladder or stairway. This ladder reaches from the ground to the heavens. God’s “messengers” or angels were “going up and down on” this stairway. God reveals himself to Jacob as the God of his ancestors and...
Our Homeland – The Way
I was not supposed to be here today. But due to a small health problem and a quick switch of the schedule, here I am with you, giving thanks to our Lord for this civil holiday, remembering our Independence Day. Certainly, the United States of America has one of the...