Friar Daily Reflection
The Burning Bush
In the first reading for today we continue with the story of Moses who “was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian.” (Ex 3:1) Meanwhile “A long time passed, during which the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned under their bondage...
Unrepentance and Conversion
We have been hearing of Jesus’ activities in the towns along the Sea of Galilee - preaching, teaching, and mighty deeds. In the Gospel Jesus’s marvelous deeds accompany his preaching and clearly show to all who he is – the Messiah. Yet as we see in today’s Gospel, in...
Mission
In today’s Gospel Jesus finishes the second of five discourses in Matthew’s Gospel. The first discourse was the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-7:28). In this second discourse Jesus commissions his disciples to go out on mission: “Jesus sent out these twelve after...
Evangelization
Evangelization is a word we often hear today in the church. We are called to evangelize. The word “evangelization” comes from the Greek word for Gospel (Greek: euangelion, Latin: evangelium). In today’s Gospel Jesus sends the apostles out to evangelize, to proclaim...
Joseph’s Revenge
In the sequence of first readings for weekday Masses, we have just made a huge leap from Jacob (Gen 28) to the end of the story of Joseph and his brothers (Gen 41). A quick synopsis of the story would include: his brothers, all older, were jealous of Joseph and...
Renouncing Everything and Evangelization
Today we celebrate the feast of St. Benedict who really put into practice Jesus’ call in today’s Gospel to abandon everything and center our lives on him. Benedict is the founder of monasticism in the Western church. He wrote a simple rule of life for communities of...
Repurposing
In the first reading, Jacob, having fled from his brother Esau’s wrath, finds himself at a shrine, where he rests for the night, using a stone for a pillow. It is here that a divine revelation comes to Jacob in a dream. Jacob sees a stairway going from earth to the...
Mercy, Not Sacrifice
What is your favorite book of the Bible? What is your favorite Bible verse? If we asked Jesus this question, he might well answer that Hosea is his favorite book of the Bible and Hosea 6:6 is his favorite passage: “For I desire goodness, not sacrifice; Obedience to...
Healing Encounter and Rejection
You probably have noticed a dramatic shift in the Matthew’s Gospel over the last week. We have passed a turning point in Matthew’s Gospel. We have moved from the proclamation of the Sermon on the Mount to action - theoretical teaching to visible reality. We see...
Justice and Freedom
Throughout the Bible, we see a consistent call for justice and the promotion of freedom, both in relation to our relationship with God and our interactions with one another. The pairing of Justice and Freedom seems an appropriate arena in which to reflect here on the...