Friar Daily Reflection
Sign of Jonah
What is the sign of Jonah that Jesus mentions in today’s Gospel? He tells the crowd: “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man...
Power and Life
Today’s first reading is one of my favorite chapters of the Old Testament: Isaiah 55. It always reminds me of the parable of the Sower and the Seed from the gospels with the Word of God being sent into the world on good and poor soil alike. Starting in Isaiah 40, the...
The Judgment
Today’s readings teach us God’s will and the criterion on which we will be judged at the end of time. In the first reading from Leviticus God calls us to be his holy people: “Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.” The reading then goes on to detail what it...
Fasting
Today’s readings deal with the question of when to fast and how to fast. Jesus is challenged because his disciples do not undertake special fasting: “Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus replies that now, while he is still...
Life and Prosperity or Death and Doom
Here we are in the first days of Lent, the beginning of our road to Jerusalem. Today Moises appears in our Lenten way. Moses is very clear when proclaiming God’s Word to the Israelites and to us. There are only two options in life, two ways. One is united with God’s...
Ash Wednesday
“Repent and believe in the Gospel.” There are the words the minister proclaims as we receive ashes on Ash Wednesday. These words are taken from the Gospel of Mark, the whole verse begins with a proclamation of Jesus: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of...
Temptation
The first reading today and all this week is from the Letter of James. Today’s “installment” is just one of many insights the letter carries about the human condition: “Blessed is he who perseveres in temptation” (James 1:12). Temptation: no one wants it, no one can...
Testing
Both of today’s readings reflect on the mystery of faith. In today’s Gospel the Pharisees seek “a sign from heaven to test him [Jesus].” He refuses to give them a sign since he has already given many signs by his teaching and healing with authority. In today’s...
Deafness
Today readings have something to say about deafness. The story in the gospel reading is straightforward: a deaf/mute person is healed by Jesus’ touch as He proclaims: “Ephphatha.” The gospel verses are a prophetic sign that in Jesus, the One has arrived. The One by...
Unclean Woman?
In today’s Gospel it seems like Jesus is having a bad day. Instead of welcoming this “outsider,” a Syrophoenician woman he callously replies, “…it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” Like so many people before her in the Gospel...