Friar Daily Reflection
…nor floods sweep it away
Today is the Feast Day of St. Scholastica, the foundress of the Benedictine Order of nuns and the twin sister of St. Benedict of Nursia, founder of the Benedictine Order of brothers. Together they are credited with establishing monasticism in the western world. It is...
Virtual Lenten Scripture Classes
Fr. Jim Scullion, O.F.M.'s Virtual Lenten Scripture Classes The Gospel of Mark - “Repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:15) is the traditional admonition on Ash Wednesday from the Gospel of Mark, the source of our gospel readings for the Sundays in this Liturgical...
Way back when
Between yesterday and today, our first reading covered the story of Creation from Genesis 1. It is a familiar story, a story told in children’s book, a story we have heard countless times over the years. It is a story that I think we are so familiar with that we no...
Beginnings
“In the beginning…God saw that it was good…God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good.” (Genesis 1:1, 4, 31) It all begins with God and it all ends with God. It all begins with God’s creative love and it all ends with God’s loving embrace of all...
Change
Any proposal that generates a critical conscience in the face of traditional systems is seen and understood as a threat to those who seek power in any time and geographical environment. The powerful, for fear of losing power, seek a way to eliminate, and sometimes...
Our Home
The Gospel today reflects several teachings of Jesus, It speaks of a wallet. The Greek word for wallet is pera which can mean collecting bag. Very often priests went out with these bags to collect contributions for their temple and their god. They have been described...
Dismissed
In today’s gospel, on the sabbath day Jesus attended the synagogue and was given the opportunity to speak about the reading from the sacred scrolls. The entire congregation was astonished at his teaching, which prompted questions concerning the source of his doctrine...
Preparing the Heart for Lent
Back in the day when I was working in the world and spending way too much time on airplanes accumulating way too many frequent-flyer miles, it seemed to me business travelers did three things on longer flights: sleep, work, or read Stephen’ Covey’s “The 7 Habits of...
All Are Welcome
“Lo, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me; And suddenly there will come to the temple the Lord whom you seek.” Today we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation. Mary and Joseph, as good and observant Jews, perform the ritual of bringing their child...
Paying Attention
The second, longest, and most complex of this Gospel’s narrated exorcisms, Mark 5:1-20 is a tale of terror. Jesus encounters a demoniac who horrifies his neighbors by howling among tombs commandeered by diabolical powers that provoke him to appalling self-abuse. The...