From the Friars: The Salt of the Earth When a person has a conversion experience and they become a disciple of Jesus, they realize that they must change their life. They must reject sin and strive to do good according to God’s Commandments. Part of the Christian’s obligation is to avoid occasions of sin, not…
From the Friars: Blessed are Those Who Mourn One Sunday, I believe in 2007, I celebrated Mass in the local parish church in San Marcos, Nicaragua where our community had a friary. After Mass I was approached by a man with a young boy. He was very friendly but I could not understand what he…
From the Friars: Dueling Postulants “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Heb4:12 In his motu propio of 9/30/19, ‘Aperuit illis’, Pope Francis declared that the 3rd…
From the Friars: Let Us Begin Again There are many different philosophies of history, but in general they are either cyclic or linear. The cyclic claim that history keeps repeating itself and has no ultimate goal. The linear proposes that there is progress and usually, that there is an end point toward which we are…
From the Friars: What Do You Seek? On December 13th of last year, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a major scientific breakthrough. For the first time ever, a nuclear fusion experiment was able to produce more energy than what was required to cause the reaction. This technology has the potential to eventually become an…
From the Friars: María Teotókos Happy New Year! Have you made your New Years resolutions yet? If not, turn to Mary, the Mother of God, whom we celebrate each year at the beginning of the secular calendar. “Theotókos” is the Greek word meaning “she who gave birth to God,” and it has an important and…
From the Friars: O Come, O Come Emmanuel! In his Gospel, St. Matthew is careful to show how the birth and life of Jesus fulfill the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. In the reading for today he quotes the famous prophesy of Isaiah 7:14, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and…
From the Friars: The Question of St. John the Baptist In today’s Gospel we hear how St. John The Baptist sent his disciples to ask Jesus: “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” (Mt 11:3) This seems hard to reconcile with the clear certitude of the man who…
From the Friars: The Coming Wrath In today’s gospel we hear the fiery words of St. John the Baptist warning of “the coming wrath.” Fire and brimstone type preaching is not popular these days. There is a far greater emphasis on God’s Mercy and readiness to forgive. It is first of all important to recognize…
From the Friars: Happy New Year and Happy Anniversary! Today is the First Sunday of Advent. On this day, we begin a new Liturgical Year in the Catholic Church. So, in some sense, we can say, “Happy New Year!” The designation of this year is A-1. This designation is based on the cycle of Mass…