Friar Daily Reflection
Genealogy of Hope
The gospel for today is St. Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus. It is Matthew's way of showing how Jesus fulfills the Old Testament storyline and takes up the first 17 verses of the gospel - and since Matthew’s gospel is almost always the first book of the New Testament,...
Authority
Who does he think he is? Some of the Jewish religious leaders, some chief priests and elders, irritated by Jesus put this question to him in today’s Gospel: “By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?” What has Jesus done? He...
Children
In today’s Gospel Jesus compares his generation to children in the marketplace. These children refuse to respond: “We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge, but you did not mourn.” The children try both happy and sad songs but the other...
Evangelization With a Mother’s Caring Love
As we all learned in grade school in the USA the Spaniards arrived in the new world in 1492. They attempted to establish settlements and colonies throughout the Caribbean Islands, Santo Domingo, and Venezuela. Their efforts included attempts at evangelization. All...
Invitations
We all like to receive invitations. During this Advent season we receive many invitations to parties and open houses. The most important invitation that we can receive this Advent is Jesus’ invitation in today’s Gospel: “Come to me, all you who labor and are...
Such is Our God
"Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated..." (Isaiah 40:1-2) The Prophet Isaiah is speaking to the Jewish people exiled to Babylon. His message is one of...
Hail Mary
The “Hail, Mary” is probably one of the first prayers most of us learned. As we see in today’s Gospel, most of the words of this prayer are taken from the words of Luke’s Gospel. The angel Gabriel greets Mary with these words: “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with...
Transformed
The enemies are on the horizon. Judah is in a time of darkness or uncertainty, waiting for a light to show there is a better future coming. Today's first reading is from Isaiah 29:17-24. Beginning with the first verse the reading lets us know that something new and...
Showing the Rock to Others
It is so easy for us to develop and then maintain a relationship with God based on natural religiosity. This leads us to only pay lip serve to God without any significance. We also develop a self-righteousness. We begin to judge and condemn others. As Catholics we...
Living The “In-Between Time” With Hope and Generosity
Advent is in-between time. We live in the in-between time - between Jesus’ historical birth and his second coming. The prophet today announces that the veil that covers our lives and our hearts will be eliminated, giving rise to a new time, a new creation. That is a...