From the Friars: Ask and You Will Receive Walking down Essex Street I passed through a group of kids playing and riding their scooter boards, or whatever those skate boards with handles are called. “Hey God,” one little boy says to me. “No, I only work for Him.” He and an even younger girl come…
From the Friars: Martha, Martha When I was a kid my older sister, for some strange reason, used to like to clean the house. Of course, this made my mother happy and made me look like a lazy slob, which I was. Mom used to call my sister “Martha, Martha“, especially when she was busy…
From the Friars: Identity of Christ One of my favorite classes in the seminary was Christology. The identity of Christ has always been a source of discussion and debate, even from the beginning. “Who do people say that I am?” These were Christ’s words to His closest followers. And then the kicker, “But who do…
From the Friars: True Freedom This 4th of July, as we fire up the grills and gather to celebrate the birth of our nation, let us call to mind the words of Thomas Jefferson which continue to inform and inspire us today, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,…
From the Friars: Fire From Heaven When the Samaritans would not receive Jesus, James and John say to him, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” No wonder Jesus called them the Sons of Thunder. This sounds extremely harsh to us but, as always, it is important to…
From the Friars: An Extraordinary Young Man When the famous philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche proclaimed that “God is dead“, the Lord raised up a little French girl, Saint Therese of Lisieux, who reminded us all of the Father’s unconditional love for us. It is possible that the Little Flower and Nietzsche may have even met as…
From the Friars: One Plus One Equals Three Let us consider some basic things that we experience frequently that have a unity but also three aspects: Space: height, width, depth; Time: past, present, future; Matter: solid, liquid, gas; Fire: flame, light, heat; Plant: root, stem, leaf; Body: heart, brain, lungs; Soul: memory, intellect, will; Family:…
From the Friars: Pentecost It’s harvest time! Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Pentecost. Pentecost comes from a Greek word meaning fifty. The Jewish Festival of Pentecost (called Shavuot or “weeks” in Hebrew) fell on the fiftieth day (“a week of weeks”) after the Passover. Shavuot was the celebration of the early wheat harvest, which…
From the Friars: Mary in the Upper Room The mystery of motherhood is a marvelous gift! Mary is Mother of Christ and Mother of the Church. After my own mother’s visit to the Shrine to celebrate my one-year anniversary to the Priesthood, I have a renewed understanding of how this marvelous gift—motherhood—is something for us…
From the Friars: Homesick At the end of June, I will be making my annual visit to my family in Michigan where I grew up. It is always a joy to see loved ones and to go back to the place that for me will always be home. At the same time there is a…