Friar Daily Reflection
Is It Lawful?
Jesus puts a key question to the Pharisees and to all of us in today’s Gospel: “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” Some Pharisees have a rather strict interpretation of the Sabbath Law. Some are...
The Law
Natural religiosity is a way of relating to God based on sacrifice, rigid observance of rules, judging others, and external signs of holiness. For many people in Israel their relationship with God had degenerated into the external forms and minimalistic observance of...
An interesting intersection
Today is an interesting intersection of national events. President Trump's return to the oval office after four years will begin today with his inauguration. The same day in which we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. I have no doubt that pundits, journalists, and...
I Forgive You
The key question in today’s Gospel is about forgiveness and who has the authority and the power to forgive sins. Some of the Jewish scribes maintain: “Who but God alone can forgive sins?” Jesus has just healed a paralytic lowered before him by his four friends:...
Sharing Our Faith Experiences
Today’s Gospel gives us insight into who Jesus is, the importance for us to maintain faith’ and our mission to announce that faith. In the times of Jesus leprosy was a terrible disease. It brought a physical, spiritual, and social death. The people sick with leprosy...
Flesh and Blood
Jesus is one of us! Our first reading proclaims this perhaps surprising and even shocking message. Jesus, the Son of God, is one of us, our “flesh and blood.” He shared not only the life that every human experiences but also, the death from which no one can...
Astonishing New Authority
There is a lot going on in today’s Gospel reading, especially in the background. At the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus goes to the synagogue at Capernaum which was a city located at a crossroads and was a social, cultural, and economic center. The synagogue...
God Speaks
God wants to speak to us, are we listening? Today’s first reading from Hebrews proclaims how God has spoken to us in the Old Testament and now speaks to us in a unique way in Jesus Christ. “In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through...
A Love Letter
Since Tuesday of this week (today is Friday), the first reading has been from the First Letter of John starting with the fourth chapter. John’s letters are sometimes a challenge to read and often presents challenges in listening as the letter seems to continually curl...
Amazing Fulfillment
All this week between the Epiphany and the Baptism of the Lord, the readings concentrate on who Jesus is. Who is this Prince of Peace, this Christmas Christ Child born rejected, persecuted, and poor in a barn and placed to sleep in a feeding trough for animals? The...