From the Friars: Viva Cristo Rey! Today on this Solemnity of Christ the King, we hear the story of the good thief. The faith of this man is quite extraordinary. For all appearances Jesus’ life was a complete failure. The supposed great prophet, who many thought was the long-awaited Messiah that would deliver God’s people…
From the Friars: Words of Warning As we come to the end of the liturgical year, and the beginning of Advent, we hear much about the Last Things in the readings at Mass. Today Jesus speaks of terrifying events to come and of great persecution that will come upon the Church. Church Teaching and the…
From the Friars: Faithful Unto Death Today in the first reading we hear the story of the heroic seven brothers and their mother who all died as martyrs rather than violate the Law of God. This happened during the reign of the Antiochus IV Epiphanes, a Greek king who ruled over Israel in the second…
The following is a quote from The U.S. Bishop’s Reflection on Catholic Teaching and Political Life: 17. The Church equips its members to address political and social questions by helping them to develop a well-formed conscience. Catholics have a serious and lifelong obligation to form their consciences in accord with human reason and the teaching…
From the Friars: Francis: Lover of Chastity Some people believe that we Franciscans should relax our life of penance. “You Franciscans do not eat very well.” “You should accept more help from the faithful.” While I appreciate these concerns and what concerns me is a loss of balance between generosity to others and a fiery…
From the Friars: The Leaven of the Pharisees Today in the Gospel we hear once again the story of the pharisee and the tax collector. We could imagine a similar scenario with a different pharisee and a different tax collector. This time the tax collector prays: “Thank you God that I am not like this…
“What have you done?” (Gen 4:10): The Eclipse of the Value of Life “10. The Lord said to Cain: “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground” (Gen 4:10).The voice of the blood shed by men continues to cry out, from generation to generation, in ever…
From the Friars: The Limits of Science Jesus asks in the gospel today, “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?” In our time we see large numbers of people turning away from religion, especially youth and young adults. Often they claim a belief in science, as if science has somehow…
Beginning this weekend, the musical instruments and choir for our Masses will be located in the choir loft. Our hope is that this new, or renewed, practice will help facilitate a more prayerful participation of everyone in the sacred liturgy. The choir has an important role in our worship and is part of the whole…
Beginning this Advent, we would like to begin a practice in the Mass that was the norm for many centuries and is still an option. I am referring to what is called celebrating Mass “Ad Orientem” or “to the East“. This describes, first of all, the ancient practice of building churches that face toward the…