Friar Daily Reflection
Song of Redemption
What if I simply came to the ambo for the homily and said “Oh, say can you see” and then paused. I feel pretty sure that what would come to your mind is the Battle of Ft. McHenry in Baltimore Harbor during the War of 1812 - the event that served as the source and...
Living Through the End Times
This is the last week of our liturgical year in the Church. This week the readings all speak of the end times. We are fascinated with the end times, the end of the world, the final judgement, the Parousia. We want to know the secrets of the time and events that signal...
Three vs. 144,000
“I, John, looked and there was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand.” (Rev 14:1) It is a famous verse from Scripture that quickly focuses on the “144,000” standing with “the Lamb on Mount Zion.” There are some denominations...
House of Prayer
In today’s Gospel Jesus performs a prophetic action in the Jerusalem Temple. Jesus “entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out those who were selling things.” Why does he do this? He quotes the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah: “It is written, My house shall be...
The Lamb of God
In today’s first reading the seer John has a heavenly vision. “I had a vision of an open door to heaven, and I heard the trumpetlike voice that had spoken to me before, saying, ‘Come up here and I will show you what must happen afterwards.’” (4:1). He sees the...
Busy About Something
One of my favorite films is the 1994 drama, The Shawshank Redemption. It is a movie I think I may have seen 10 or more times. The film tells the story of Andy Dufresne, a banker who spends nearly two decades in Shawshank State Prison for the murder of his wife despite...
God’s Incredible, Unexpected Love
Zacchaeus was a notorious public sinner in Israel. He collaborated with the Romans by collecting tariffs and tolls. That made him a traitor to his own country in the eyes of all his neighbors. To make things worse, he was a chief tax collector, ostentatiously wealthy...
Lost along the way
Today’s first reading is from the always mysterious, often misunderstood and frequently misinterpreted Book of Revelation. Perhaps the centerpiece of the book is the letter to the seven churches of Asia Minor from which we hear the letter to the community as Ephesus....
Thankfulness and Being Ready
November is the end of the harvest here in North America. This is the month when we celebrate Thanksgiving Day. It is also the month when we come to the end of our liturgical year. Advent brings the beginning of a new year in the Church at the end of November. The...
The What, When, and How of the Kingdom of God
The Gospel is full of questions about the Kingdom of God. What will it be like? How can we recognize it? Who will get in? Who will be excluded? Today a group of pharisees ask Jesus when the Kingdom will come? Seems like the folks in Jesus’ times the same questions or...