Friar Daily Reflection
Memorial of St. Barnabas
St. Barnabas was one of the prominent Christian disciples in Jerusalem, Jewish and Cypriot by birth. He was sent to Antioch as an emissary of the Church in Jerusalem and witnessed the work of the Lord. At some time before this, St. Paul had his Damascus Road...
Prophets and Kings
When it comes to the reading selections for daily Mass, I sometimes think the first readings are on their own track, telling a story, but only in bits and pieces, starts and stops. Today we are introduced to King Ahab and the prophet Elijah. To this point the First...
Mercy of God
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. This feast and today’s readings ask us to focus on the love and mercy of God. St. Paul speaks in today’s second reading of the “inscrutable riches of Christ.” In the previous chapter Paul has...
Listen and Love
The question posed to Jesus in today’s gospel seems trivial to us. Why so much concern about which commandment is important? For the people of Jesus’ time, it would have been a very important question because they had a huge number of commandments, regulations,...
St. Boniface: missionary zeal
The readings for the memorial are an option for today and are well chosen for the life of St. Boniface. The account of St. Paul before King Agrippa and the gospel message of Jesus as the good shepherd capture the missionary endeavors, trials and tribulations - as well...
Centering in God
Often the incident in today’s Gospel is used to justify taxes or it is used to promote a separation of religious values and duties from civil values and duties. But neither of those interpretations is at the core of Jesus’ statements. The Pharisees and the Herodians...
Being Fully Alive
It is but a simple, single verse from our first reading (2 Peter 1:2-7): God “...has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so that through them you may come to share in the divine nature, after escaping from the corruption that is in the world because...
Meeting of Joy and Blessing
What is the most important thing in your life? What is the main guide in our life? Those are very big questions that we often do not take time to answer. Most people tend to center their lives on themselves and getting the things that they want out of life. Mary and...
Aliens and Sojourners
Last week I traveled to a cemetery close to Boston for the burial of a friend. Then I took advantage of the long holiday weekend to visit my hometown and family in the Adirondack Mountains. Spring is a time of explosive life in the mountains: new growth on the trees,...
Glory or Humility
The disciples, perhaps like most of us, tend to “half-hear” what Jesus is teaching. In today’s Gospel, for example, Jesus teaches that his way is the way of humility, the way of the Cross: “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed...