Friar Daily Reflection
Life and Prosperity or Death and Doom
Here we are in the first days of Lent, the beginning of our road to Jerusalem. Today Moises appears in our Lenten way. Moses is very clear when proclaiming God’s Word to the Israelites and to us. There are only two options in life, two ways. One is united with God’s...
Ash Wednesday
“Repent and believe in the Gospel.” There are the words the minister proclaims as we receive ashes on Ash Wednesday. These words are taken from the Gospel of Mark, the whole verse begins with a proclamation of Jesus: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of...
Temptation
The first reading today and all this 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” (James 1:12). Temptation: no one wants it, no one can...
Testing
Both of today’s readings reflect on the mystery of faith. In today’s Gospel the Pharisees seek “a sign from heaven to test him [Jesus].” He refuses to give them a sign since he has already given many signs by his teaching and healing with authority. In today’s...
Deafness
Today readings have something to say about deafness. The story in the gospel reading is straightforward: a deaf/mute person is healed by Jesus’ touch as He proclaims: “Ephphatha.” The gospel verses are a prophetic sign that in Jesus, the One has arrived. The One by...
Unclean Woman?
In today’s Gospel it seems like Jesus is having a bad day. Instead of welcoming this “outsider,” a Syrophoenician woman he callously replies, “…it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” Like so many people before her in the Gospel...
Unclean
What can defile a person or make them unclean? Jesus addresses this question in today’s Gospel. Jesus’ society, like our society, tended to classify people as insiders and outsiders. Whatever people feared or did not understand, such as leprosy or a foreign...
Conditions of the Heart
In a way this is a follow-on from yesterday’s reflection. The first reading again concerns itself with King Solomon. It is part of the dedication of the first Jerusalem Temple (a longer version of which you can read in 2 Chron 6) and, in a way, marks the high point of...
The Temple of the Lord
Did the first reading for today make you feel like you were dropped into the middle of a movie and you want to lean over to your friend and ask, “What’s going on?” The reading is from the 1st Book of Kings and describes a key event in the history of ancient Israel....
Presentation
Today is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple. As we hear in today’s Gospel Mary and Joseph bring the baby Jesus up to the Temple in Jerusalem “to present him to the Lord.” Jesus is welcomed by Simeon and Anna into the people of God. In a similar...