From the Friars: Love Gives Ownership In the parable of the Prodigal Son the older son is angry because his father has killed the fatted calf to celebrate the return of his brother. He complains that the father had never given him so much as a goat for a party for him and his friends.…
From the Friars: Active Participants This Friday we celebrate the Annunciation of the Lord. This mystery recalls when the Blessed Virgin Mary gave Her complete ‘Yes’ to God’s plan to become incarnate in her womb. It is also called the Solemnity of the Incarnation. We too, like Mary, are called to be transformed by the…
From the Friars: Light and Darkness There are two kinds of darkness. One is an absence of light, like the night during which Abraham experienced his mysterious trance and vision in the first reading for today. The second is to be blinded by a light so bright, so intense, that our eyes are not able…
From the Friars: The Father of Lies Imagine you are at the zoo and suddenly you hear an announcement over the loudspeaker that a lion has just escaped from his cage. Would you not experience a rush of fear and immediate thoughts of how to protect yourself from this danger. St. Peter tells us: “stay…
A Copernican Revolution There was a time when people thought that the earth was at the center of the universe and that the sun revolved around our planet. In the sixteenth century, Nicolaus Copernicus figured out that it is the earth that actually revolves around the sun. This was a big event in the history…
I have another bumper sticker story. Those little strips of vinyl can be a powerful way to communicate. This one said, “When Jesus said ‘love your enemies’, he probably meant don’t kill them.” The Gospel reading today gives us this shocking teaching of Our Lord. If it doesn’t shock us, there is something likely wrong…
I never really celebrated Valentine’s Day growing up. It’s probably because I was more focused on the candy than on actually looking for a Valentine! I used to fill my pockets with those little heart-shaped candies with a message on them, hoping that the next one would be exactly what I needed to hear…”Your My…
Three of us friars are temporarily living in an apartment on Essex Street while the new rectory/friary is being built. There is a popular bar/restaurant on the first floor of our building, which is often full of young people. It has struck me as unusual that Sunday nights seem to be especially popular. The contrast…
During these Sundays of Ordinary Time, we have been reading from St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Today we have his magnificent description of love, the highest gift, without which all other gifts or good works are worthless. He tells us what love is and what it is not. For example, it is “not…
Today’s Gospel reading relates a very dramatic moment in the life of Our Lord. One Sabbath, in his hometown synagogue, Jesus is asked to read from Scripture and to comment on it. There was nothing unusual in this, and he read a familiar prophecy of the Messiah from Isaiah 61. But when he had sat…