The Friar Podcasts - preaching prayer and spiritual reflections

He prayed to the LORD, “O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I fled at first toward Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, abounding in kindness, repenting of punishment. Ok. What is it you would do if God called you to go and speak to a group you did not like? For most Americans, and probably most others in the world,...

So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; It shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it. It can seem like things are completely out of control. Life is so unbelievably fragile. There are natural disasters, crime, wars, and other tragic events. Why is there all this evil in the world. And what can be done? God has a plan. The mystery of evil, a...

Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy. Moses is told by God to speak to the people of Israel, and to tell them what they need to become: Be holy, for God is holy. But how? What does it mean to be holy? Sometimes when the question gets posed the all-too-quick answer can be reduced to the preferences of a single person. But what does God tell Moses in the next verses? Essentially there is a li...

Thus says the LORD: If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; If you bestow your bread  on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; Then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday; Then the LORD will guide you always and give you plenty even on the parched land. He will renew your strength, and you shall be like...

Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits, and drive all your laborers. Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting, striking with wicked claw. Would that today you might fast so as to make your voice heard on high! Is this the manner of fasting I wish, of keeping a day of penance: That a man bow his head like a reed and lie in sackcloth and ashes? Do you call this a fast, a day acce...

"If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?" There is a belief that truly you can have it all. That is to say, you can have lots of stuff and that will make fo...

In an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you. Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. If you are thinking about what you need to do to grow closer to God, to love God more and to love neighbor more, it's time to get started. Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of the season of Lent. There are so many things to consider for this s...

My son, when you come to serve the LORD, stand in justice and fear, prepare yourself for trials. Be sincere of heart and steadfast, incline your ear and receive the word of understanding, undisturbed in time of adversity. Wait on God, with patience, cling to him, forsake him not; thus will you be wise in all your ways. Get ready for the questions. What are you doing for Lent? What are you giving u...

All wisdom comes from the LORD and with him it remains forever, and is before all time The sand of the seashore, the drops of rain, the days of eternity: who can number these? Heaven's height, earth's breadth, the depths of the abyss: who can explore these? If there is something I cannot understand, it is how someone, anyone, can look at the creation around us and not conclude something far beyond...

Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? Are you at all aware that you are the temple of God, and that the Holy Spirit dwells in you? That is Saint Paul's very profound and important question to each of us, just as he asked it of the citizens of Corinth. Our lives, it seems to me, are like being on a pendulum. We can find ourselves at certain points...

"Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." There are those moments when things are so absolutely wonderful that we can become unaware of what it is we are saying. Times that are so good we just become lost in the goodness of it all. Such is the case for Peter today who has no idea what he is saying. But that is not the case with G...

Homily given at Christian Brothers College High School , Town and Country, Missouri. Readings for Today . Listen to our other homilies . When God makes a promise, he keeps it. In today's first reading, God establishes a covenant with Noah that He will never destroy the earth again. All because of the fidelity of Noah to the promises of God. The Good News is that even when we do not keep our word t...

“Do you see anything?” Looking up the man replied, “I see people looking like trees and walking.” Then he laid hands on the man’s eyes a second time and he saw clearly; his sight was restored and he could see everything distinctly. When people are going through very difficult times, it can be difficult for them to see things as they really are. The brokenness of life can blur the deep reality that...

Given at Christian Brothers College High School , Town and Country, Missouri. Readings for Today . Listen to our other homilies . How often are we like the disciples, so absorbed in our own little world we miss the big picture? It can certainly be easy to get that way. But as always, the disciples' concerns are too small. They are worried about bread. Jesus offers them salvation. On the friar, you...

Readings for Today When the LORD saw how great was man's wickedness on earth, and how no desire that his heart conceived was ever anything but evil, he regretted that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was grieved. Ever since the Fall of Adam and Eve, the human has been capable of very evil things. Throughout history we have seen terrible examples of such evil. But there are certain perio...

Given at Our Lady of Lourdes , University City, Missouri. Readings for Today . Listen to our other homilies . Why do we have rules? I worked in a school that was guided by two rules. Respect yourself and others. Respect the property. In fact, if you think about it, all rules can be encapsulated in these two statements. Religion is the same. Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. In today's g...

Readings for Today If you were looking for a job, and you were asked for a sample of your work, you wouldn't, if you really cared about getting the job, send the employer mediocre work. No, you would look to send your employer your best work. Only when you do that are you able to show what you are capable of doing if you get the job. If you were applying for college, you wouldn't just think about...

Readings for Today Oh, you are so immature. This is an insult that has probably been said and heard by many. Usually, it is in response to immature behavior. And to be sure, becoming mature is not always something easy for human beings to achieve. And it is the case that maturity is often connected with gaining wisdom. But becoming mature is hard. This might be particularly true for the spiritual...

Readings for Today Probably every child has had the experience of playing Hide-and-go-seek. Finding the perfect hiding spot a great pastime. It is fun because we do not really believe we will not ever be found again. Someone will find us, and we know it. Hiding from God is a different story, because we can never really hide from God at all. God is all-knowing, and more, he loves us so infinitely m...

Readings for Today When we consider God's ultimate plan for us it can be easy to forget that what God desired for us was the states of original holiness and original justice. That is to say, we were meant to be whole, entire, complete in our relationship with God, and to be whole, entire and complete in our relationships with self, others and the created world. But alas... There are those times wh...

Readings for Today One thing that is part of our world is that there is division. Things are not always peaceful and harmonious. Sometimes this can mean that even the simplest things can become so misinterpreted or misunderstood that there becomes a deep area of division among us. At first glance, today's gospel can seem like that. Like so many others in the readings, the woman asks for a miracle...

Readings for Today “But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him. From within the man, from his heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.” It can be quite difficult to admit, but for me, the external actions are much easier than internal conve...

Given at Christian Brothers College High School , Town and Country, Missouri. Readings for Today . Listen to our other homilies . Today's first reading is one that we have probably heard more than once. It is the account of creation from the first chapter of the book of Genesis. While the primary focus is on the creation of the world, the more important focus is the theological points that are bei...

They scurried about the surrounding country and began to bring in the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak; and as many as touched it were healed. Oh my. Today's gospel continues where we left off. The apostles are excited for all the...

"Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts. You disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition." He went on to say, "How well you have set aside the commandment of God in order to uphold your tradition! What is the point of havin...