Friar Daily Reflection
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...
Do Not Be Afraid
In today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles God tells Paul: “Do not be afraid.” This phrase is found often in the Scripture and even in the hymn “Be Not Afraid” that we hear often at Sunday Eucharist and Funeral masses. In this exhortation God calls us to...
Choosing
In today’s Gospel Jesus calls his disciples to live in the joy of his love and he reminds them that he was the one who chose them. He was the one who broke into their lives interrupting the sadness they had constructed with their lifestyle. The choosing, the...
Existence
St. Paul was an excellent evangelizer. He arrives in Athens and would have been identified by the locals as an immigrant, foreigner, outsider, tourist, and Jew. When he arrived in Athens, he took time to walk through the city and get to know the local culture. Greek...
The Paraclete
“But now I am going to the one who sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts. But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you....
Parting of Ways
Christianity roots are in Judaism. Jesus and all the apostles, including St. Paul, were all Jewish. As good Jews they would make the yearly pilgrimage to the Jerusalem Temple for the Feast of Passover and would attend the weekly service in the synagogues in Nazareth...
Burdens and Necessities
In the first reading today, the apostles and elders, after prayer and discernment, send a message to the Gentile believers. And at the heart of that message is this line: “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden beyond these...
Joy
We have been listening to Jesus’ farewell words to the apostles at the Last Supper. These are his last catechesis. He speaks about his passion, death, and resurrection. It seems that at that moment the apostles did not comprehend all that he was announcing. In John’s...
The Essentials
The first reading today begins with a very strong claim: “Unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic practice, you cannot be saved.” That is not a small disagreement; it is a statement about who counts—about what is necessary to belong to God. And the early...
Peace
The Easter season is a time to renew ourselves in the basic Christian virtues that grow out of our experience of the risen Christ in our daily lives. St Paul calls the basic virtues faith, hope, and love (charity). Peace comes from those virtues. Our capacity to live...