Friar Daily Reflection
New Life
Today at the Mass for the children of the parish elementary school, the gospel reading is taken from John 20, the scene on Easter morning when Mary Magdalene encounters the risen Jesus. As part of the encounter, Jesus says to Mary: “Stop holding on to me.” What could...
Openness to Evangelize
The joy of the resurrection profoundly changed the lives of the first disciples. That joy was explosive in them. They felt compelled to announce and share their faith experience. Today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles shows us Philip’s openness to being guided...
Bread of Life
Who is Jesus? This question is the core question of our faith and the core question in John’s Gospel. In today’s Gospel Jesus answers this question: “I am the bread of life.” Jesus has used similar images to describe himself elsewhere in John Gospel. In his...
The Person of Jesus
After witnessing Jesus’ many healings and even the multiplication of the loaves, the people continue to insist that they want a miraculous proof of who he is in order to obey or believe in him. The crowd then throws in his face that Moises continually provided the...
Martyr
In today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles we hear the story of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. The Greek word “martyr” means witness. In the beginning of Acts the risen Jesus commissions his disciples to be Spirit empowered witnesses: “But you will...
Fighting Against God
In today’s first reading from Acts we hear the Jewish Pharisee Gamaliel give wise and sage advice. He advises restraint in their dealings with the early Jewish Christian Community. He refers to two other Jewish “revolutionary” leaders, Theudas and Judas the...
False Righteousness vs Witnessing
The apostles and first disciples were completely transformed by the experience of the risen Lord in their lives. Their joy was so explosive that they felt impelled to announce and share their experience. Joy, trust, witness, service, and hope became a way of life for...
Living in Love Beyond Reason
The Old Testament is a description of God’s continuous fidelity to his people and the people’s almost constant disobedience and their willful wandering away from him. God sent the prophets and holy leaders to guide the people, but they continued to organize their...
Being Born Again
One of the questions we priest occasionally receive is about our ability to prepare people for marriage - since we were never married, or to speak to families about dynamics that arise in families - although we came from families, we were not yet adults - or similar...
Born Again
In today’s Gospel we hear the story of Nicodemus. The Evangelist tells us that he is a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews. Like many others in this Gospel, Nicodemus comes to Jesus searching and seeking: “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God,...