Friar Daily Reflection
God or King?
In today’s first reading the prophet Amos is accused of treason against the Israelite king Jeroboam by the priest Amaziah: “Amos has conspired again you… For this is what Amos says: Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be exiled from its land.” ...
Doubting Thomas or Believing Thomas?
Today is the feast of the apostle Thomas, popularly known as doubting Thomas. Why? Because as we hear in today’s Gospel Thomas declared: “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not...
The Storm: Terror or Faith
Once again Jesus shows his disciples and us who he really is. In a boat on the Sea of Galilee suddenly surrounded and overwhelmed by a storm, the disciples who as fishermen, would have known the weather and the lake, are filled with fear – even terror. They tried to...
Voices that Disturb
If you lived in the northern part of Israel some 750 years before Jesus, you were living during the reign of King Jeroboam II. The economy is good, the neighboring countries are envious of your peace and prosperity - life is good. There is only one problem: the rabble...
By the Rivers of Babylon
Today’s Responsorial Psalm is the heart wrenching lament: “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.” The cause of this great lament in described in the first reading from the book of Kings, the Babylonian Exile. The city of Jerusalem (Zion)...
The Rock
Well, this is it! Today we come to the end of the Sermon the Mount after almost three weeks of listening to excerpts from Matthew’s three full chapters. These last words of Jesus to end his Sermon on the Mount have always been striking and challenging to me. After...
False Prophets
In today’s Gospel Jesus continues his Sermon on the Mount. In his Sermon Jesus teaches what it means to be his disciple and what we as his disciples are called to do. At the beginning of his Sermon, he defined his disciples as those who are “poor in spirit, humble,...
The Path and The Gate
Now that I am over 60 years old my ankles and knees don’t function correctly anymore. So, I tend to choose my exercise or walking paths with care. No more mountain paths with mud, stones, and fallen branches – all of which seem to reach up to trip me along the way. I...
The Power
Today is the Solemnity of the Nativity of John the Baptist. The gospel reading is taken from Luke and describes the scene when the child is born and, against the custom of the day, receives not his father’s name, but the name “John” as earlier commanded by the angel...
Heart and Treasures
Jesus states clearly the most important commandments in all of Scripture: love of God and love of neighbor. These are the only treasures in the life of a Christian. Everything else should be subservient to those values and goals. God invested centuries cultivating an...