Friar Daily Reflection
Everlasting Sin
In today’s Gospel Jesus speaks about an everlasting sin: “But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.” This everlasting sin is demonizing Jesus: “He is possessed by Beelzebub…By the prince of demons...
Word of God Sunday
Today the Church Universal celebrates Sunday of the Word of God, a celebration established by Pope Francis in 2019. It is a celebration that is close to my heart. I have taught Bible Studies in parishes since 1986 and have more that 2,500 posts on my blog FriarMusings...
About Wickedness
The first reading today is the story of King Saul of Israel, jealous of David’s rising popularity and fame, is trying to hunt down the young David and kill him, lest David become the king by popular demand. In the realm of power politics, David has his chance there in...
Son of God
In today’s Gospel the unclean spirits call out to Jesus, “You are the Son of God.” Somewhat surprisingly Jesus commands them not to make him known. The title of this Gospel is, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.” (Mark 1:1). The title...
About Temptation
Today is the Memorial of St. Anthony the Abbot and the readings for the celebration are taken from the Memorial rather than the daily reading. St. Anthony lived during the third century and for a period survived as a wandering hermit in the Egyptian wilderness....
The Law and the Savior
The Word of God comes to us today to show us how easy it is for us to limit our conversion and judgments based on rigid interpretations of the law. We rigidly obey the rule of the law but not the heart of the law. We use the law as an instrument of war to judge, harm,...
New and Old
Many of us have grown up with traditions such as mass in Latin and fish on Friday. While these traditions were good and nourishing in their time and place, they never were intended to be the core of our faith although we can understand why some people cling to these...
Unity in Service and Love
The principle sign of being a Christian person or a Christian community is living together in unity, serving and forgiving each other. That is why we have a family and a local Christian community. In the times after Jesus’ resurrection, people who did not know Jesus...
Confidence and Thanksgiving
In Israel during the New Testament times, leprosy was a disease that was fear. It was considered the result of punishment for sins, either of the leper or some ancestor. Being sick with leprosy was similar to a death sentence to a life of physical sickness, separation...
Everything Everywhere All at Once
One of last year’s celebrated movies was “Everything Everywhere All at Once” - a tale of a middle-aged Chinese immigrant who is swept up into an insane adventure in which she alone can save existence by exploring other universes and connecting with the lives she...