The Friar Podcasts - preaching prayer and spiritual reflections

The Joy of the LawTranscript

This first reading is really an interesting one. It is a return from exile, and so the people that are coming back have had little or no exposure to the Jewish law at all because they've been in exile in Babylon.

But they come back, they're excited because they're able to return to their ancestral home, and for the occasion they decide to read and interpret the law, the Torah, for the people who have not heard it. And it's an amazing experience as they hear the law of God, and as they hear it explained to them, and as they get a sense of what they've been missing in their life, what kinds of things have not been present to them in terms of their heritage, of their faith. And they're overcome with joy.

They're so joyful at this that they begin to weep because they realize what they have lost and what they have found. It's not always easy to appreciate the law. It is not always easy to appreciate that God gives us a gift in telling us what it means to be human, how to live, what to do, what kind of attitude to have, how to worship, how to forgive, how to order every aspect of our life in a way where it is in union with what God knows is best for us.

We need to ask ourselves today to what degree do we hear and understand what it is that God has asked of us. Now the good news is that Jesus has helped us because He's taken the entire law and the prophets and the Gospels and everything else you would want to know about how to live according to God's way, and reduced it to two things that we need to remember. We need always to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Let us ask the Lord today for the grace to do so.

Saint Francis

Hello and welcome to Spend Five with Jesus. This is Wednesday, October 4th, 2023. I am the friar. It is wonderful to have you with us today.

Today is the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, and Saint Francis is really an important figure for Dominicans because we not only refer to Saint Dominic as our Holy Father, obviously our founder, why we're called Dominicans, but we also refer to to St. Francis as our Holy Father.

And at first you might wonder, well, why is that? What is the reason for that? And I think they were both given a very similar mission at roughly the same time, which was namely to rebuild the church, to really make the church vibrant again. Obviously, responding to the grace of God, obviously it is God who rebuilds his church, Jesus rebuilds his church. But these were the vehicles that God used to rebuild the church.

For Dominic, it was to go forth and proclaim the gospel and to live at the generosity of others. And that's what we have in common, because that's what Franciscans do as well. They live at the generosity of others. When the Dominicans were founded, when the Franciscans were founded, they didn't do work like most monastic communities. They relied on the generosity of people for all of their needs.

There was a fundamental and wonderful and tremendous trust in the people of the day by Franciscans, by Dominicans. Obviously, both have been unbelievably successful. We can look at the way in which the Church is today through the efforts of the Franciscans, who I think many people associate with real works of mercy. They are the ones who are deeply involved in the life of the poor. They are working to change social structures that keep people poor. They are a phenomenal and wonderful and good thing.

At the same time, the Dominicans have been highly successful in helping people to really understand their faith in an intelligent way. I think for Dominicans, the real gift is not only to preach, but to preach in an intelligent way to the world that longs to hear the loving message of Jesus, the loving message of God.

Obviously, living in community is critical to both Franciscans and Dominicans. Living a life of poverty is critical to both Franciscans and Dominicans. And we have the real generosity of Saint Dominic and Saint Francis to thank for this tremendous and wonderful day. Because our way of life is directly related to the generosity of Francis and Dominic to answer the call of God to found these great communities.

So today, think about what God may be asking you to do. The great command of St. Francis was to rebuild his church. And he wasn't talking just about a single building, although that is true. But to rebuild the church, the body of Christ, which was in terrible, terrible shape at the time of Francis and at the time of Dominic.

I think we're all called to do that. I think we're all called to recognize that the church today needs powerful and tremendous rebuilding. And so, today, ask God to help you to understand what it is he wants you to do for the rebuilding of the church, and ask St. Francis for his prayers that you might be successful.

On the friar, you can listen to our homilies (based on the readings of the day) and reflections. You can also ask us to pray for you or to pray for others. You can subscribe to our website to be informed whenever we publish an update.

Keep your eyes on the goalTranscript

We have two really dramatic scenes in the readings today, or at least a description of one and the reality in the gospel. But they're connected, I think, in some way.

The first reading is a promise of what awaits the people of God. that people will be, they're in exile, so this is the thing. They're not in Israel, they're not in their homeland, and they're in exile. So they are probably longing on some level to go back to Jerusalem, although we know that some, because it was quite some time, had kind of gotten used to where they were living and liked to stay there.

But the scene that's described is quite dramatic. Those Jews that will return to Israel are going to be so desired that people are going to grab onto them and say, "Bring us with you, for we know that God is with you." That's really our, both our charge and our hope. Bring us with you.

You know, there was a bishop in Burlington who used to say, "Don't go to heaven alone. Take someone with you." And he was a way of trying to get people to talk about Jesus in their lives.

The gospel is a situation where James and John forget the ultimate promise. Jesus is doing the will of God. He's going to Jerusalem. Now that really means he's going knowing he will be killed and dying there. So it's not a happy journey.

James and John react the way many of us would. They're not welcomed in Samaria. They may or may not have an idea of what Jesus is going on to encounter, but they want to call down fire to destroy them. Now I would love to be able to do that, but at least with certain people, you're not among them.

But Jesus knows the end. He knows the purpose. Just like Ezekiel expresses the end in the first reading, Jesus knows the end in the gospel. Let us always strive in our own lives that even when things are not going so well, we might keep the end of our lives, goal of our lives, Heaven, and an ultimate relationship with Jesus ever before us.

Guardian Angels

Hello and welcome to Spend Five with Jesus. This is Monday, October 2nd, 2023. I am the friar, and it is wonderful to have you with us today.

Today is the Feast of the Guardian Angels, which is really a very consoling feast for me, primarily because it serves as a reminder of just how much it is that God wants a deep and eternal relationship with us, and just how much it is that God is going to give us every measure of help to achieve that relationship of holiness.

Not only are we going to get the outpouring of God's grace, but we're going to be given rather angels that are particularly given to us, to help us. And so to me it is a way of reinforcing that God wants to give us every opportunity for this deep and fundamental and powerful relationship with Him. God wants to give us every chance to grow in holiness with Him.

And that's really what the Guardian angels are all about. It is about a concrete way in the spiritual world, I know that's a little bit contradictory, to help us to grow in holiness, because that's the call that each one of us faces. Every single one of us has the universal call to holiness. Every single human being is one that God desires to save.

God desires to save you, God desires to save me, God desires to save every other person God has ever created. That's the desire. He says in, I can't even remember where it is, but anyway, the phrase is "God did not create death." I think it might be Isaiah. God did not create death. God does not want us to die.

Even though we sin, we turn away, we reject God. God doesn't want that for us. God doesn't want us to die. God wants us to live. God wants us to experience the fullness of the spiritual life in every way that we possibly can. And boy I don't know about you, but if that doesn't console you, that we have a God who stands with us to help us in every single way that we could possibly be helped, then I don't know what would give us encouragement.

So recognize that you have a guardian angel. Pray to your guardian angel. Ask your guardian angel to assist you, to make it clearer to you where it is that God is giving you grace to respond and do all these wonderful things. I am the Friar. It was wonderful being with you today. We look forward to seeing you tomorrow. God

On the friar, you can listen to our homilies (based on the readings of the day) and reflections. You can also ask us to pray for you or to pray for others. You can subscribe to our website to be informed whenever we publish an update.

The Attitude of Jesus

Hello and welcome to Spend Five with Jesus for this Sunday, October 1st, 2023. I am the friar, and it is wonderful to have you with us today.

Because that's really, I think, at the heart of what some of the struggle is, is how to strike the appropriate balance between those truths, those principles that never change with those things that sometimes we have to let go of because God is doing something new in our lives.

The readings, the gospel and the first reading kind of do a sort of parallel thing where you have somebody who said they're gonna do the right thing and then they turn away. And then you have, on the other hand, someone who started by turning away, then regretted it, had remorse and turned back to God, turned back to doing the right thing.

Today's readings really kind of strike me as setting an important tone for something that is fundamentally a problem in our day and age, I think. Now maybe it's a problem in every day and age, but I think we all kind of struggle with with this sense of, in what place is there or what place can there be for something objective in our life that applies always and everywhere.

And those types of things are really important and I think encouraging for us. But part of the challenge I think is that we can find ourselves living in an age where there really isn't a question of fairness because there isn't a question of a common standard that defines fairness.

Here's what I mean. You will hear a little child say, "That's not fair." Generally speaking, when we get underneath the surface of that statement, what really is being said is, "I didn't get to do what I want" or "I didn't get what I want, and that's not fair."

They don't really care much about the objective standards of fairness as much as they care that they get what they think they deserve. And we as adults are not much different really. How often have you heard the expression, You've got your truth, I've got mine? Don't bother me. As long as what you do doesn't bother me, I'm not gonna worry about it.

The problem with that way of thinking is that when we think that way, what happens is by the time we discover or find the problem, it's too late. Things have already spiraled out of control and the solution is really that much more difficult. So what is the point of these readings today?

Well, the biggest point is to recognize that if you're going to put any emphasis on something, you should put it on the fact that God is all-knowing, all-loving, and all-powerful. If there is going to be a standard, then it only makes sense that the smartest person the room, namely Almighty God, would in fact get pride of place and more than pride of place in helping us to understand what it means to be accountable to God. What it means to follow Him, what it means to do His will.

It's not enough just to say we're doing God's will, we actually have to do God's will. And that's really an important factor.

In the first reading, part of what Ezekiel is really addressing is the fact that there was a feeling that when bad things happened in the present age it was because of something horrible that had happened previously by their ancestors. They were being punished for the bad sins of, I don't know, their father or their grandfather or whatever. And Ezekiel is making a clear point about morality. No, that's not true.

What really is true is that every person is responsible for their own moral life. And that's what Ezekiel is saying today. That's what he's helping us to understand.

Jesus now takes this and goes a little bit farther with it. And what he means is that when we look at these two sons, one who says, "I'm not gonna go," but then regrets saying that and goes, and another who says he's gonna go but ultimately doesn't, that it's the one who actually does what God wants that is pleasing to God. . .

A Saint for our Times

Hello and welcome to Spend Five with Jesus for this Saturday, September 30th, 2023. I am the Friar and it is wonderful to be with you today.

Today we celebrate Saint Jerome, a great saint, but really an interesting man, really someone who I think could be a great model for us because of the ways in which he worked on his relationship with God and ultimately became a saint. Ultimately became this this holy holy person.

So who was Saint Jerome? Well, Saint Jerome lived in the fourth century and he was the saint that translated the Bible from Greek into Latin we call it the Vulgate. He knew a lot of languages which helped him in this task. He knew Hebrew. He knew Greek. He knew Latin, of course, and also of what we might call Aramaic or Assyrian or that type of language which was all very helpful for his task.

But he was also a person who got angry and not a little bit angry he got a lot angry. He had no tolerance for areas that he felt were were against the Church or evil or whatever you want to call it. He really, I think, could be said not to like Ambrose very much at all. He attacked St. Augustine.

But people who knew him would would say or speak of how much he knew. How much he was a man of tremendous knowledge. In fact, St. Augustine, the one who was attacked by Saint Jerome, was known to have said of him that "what Jerome is ignorant of, no mortal has ever known." That's a pretty high compliment when it comes to knowledge.

But here's the thing that I think makes, not only makes Jerome a saint, but makes him the kind of saint that we might really appreciate in our own life. Yes, he had a problem with anger, but more importantly he went back to God for forgiveness. He went to Jesus for forgiveness again and again.

So it was that that was the most important characteristic of Jerome. He strived in what he did to be faithful to Jesus. And he was really hard on his anger. He didn't like it. He was hard on himself. He was really, really recognizing that he did not always treat people well, but he stayed with it. And as much as he may have been a man that was angry, he was more a man that believed in the mercy and the forgiveness of God.

And that's really what I think is important for us today. Here's a guy that really struggled with a trait or a characteristic he really didn't like much. He really really regretted it. He didn't really like himself when he was was like this, when he was angry, when he was really struggling with temptation and sin.

He never let that become more powerful than the mercy that God gave him. And he stayed with it. He stayed with it. And that's the lesson for you and me today.

So if you're struggling with something that that sin that just seems to be always a part of your life, or if you are really really struggling with certain characteristics that you really would like God to help you to overcome, to change, if you really are struggling with sin, go to Jesus, go to the church, go to confession. Find in the person of Jesus the Lord who longs to forgive you so that someday, just like Saint Jerome, you too might become a saint.

On the friar, you can listen to our homilies (based on the readings of the day) and reflections. You can also ask us to pray for you or to pray for others. You can subscribe to our website to be informed whenever we publish an update.

How the outside shapes the inside

Transcript

We don't always think, I think, as much, maybe as we should, about the importance of having buildings and places to worship God and to do the holy things of God. 

Think of the difference that, for instance, the school building we're in makes. It shapes and forms us in terms of our lives and in our school, in our community. In fact, we're even looking at how it is that we can best use this facility for the future moving forward. 

And that's really what's happening in this reading that's being recounted by the prophet Haggai. They've been in exile, they've been in Babylon, and God has used King Cyrus to allow them to go back, but not only to allow them to go back, to rebuild the temple that was destroyed. 

It's a sign that if they turn their lives to God on the outside, they will in fact be converted on the inside. And that's really always the dynamic of our faith. How is it that we can exercise the desire to want to know to get to God better, but How do we allow that knowledge, that way of seeking for God, to really touch our hearts, to really change the way we see the world, the way we think about others, the things that we choose to do and how we choose to spend our time? 

Let us ask the Lord today to help us to allow our internal selves to be so changed that we might be mistaken for the Lord Jesus himself.

Your Mission

Hello and welcome to Spend Five with Jesus for this Wednesday, September 27, 2023. I am the friar and it is wonderful to have you with us today. 

Today is really a great gospel because it reminds us that at the heart of our baptism is our being sent forth. That really in fact is at the root of the word Mass, Missae, go forth. That's what we say at the end of Mass. 

We send all of us forth to really proclaim and share the good news of Jesus. That's really what everything is about. That's what our lives are about. And so it's really good that we get this kind of focus, I think, on this this gospel that we're called to do that. 

You know, we as Catholics, this is you've probably heard this before, but we're not always very good at sharing our faith, going forth. You know there are religious individuals who I think are members of groups where this going forth is really important. 

The Mormons for example are very very strong in this sense of having these two years when you're just on the cusp of beginning your adulthood of going out on mission. You know you certainly could see the Jehovah Witnesses doing something similar. I think that evangelical Catholics or excuse me evangelical Christians are very good at moving out into these situations and these circumstances where they too share the Word of God. 

We have to do that because think about what we have. Think about our lives for a moment. We believe in the celebration of the Eucharist that we receive the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ. We believe that when we read the Word of God, we are in fact hearing God Himself speak to us in the Scriptures. We believe that when we are called to go forth and serve others, we are actually serving the Christ as we read in Matthew 25. 

And so it is critically, critically important for us to kind of get these pieces together. And then why wouldn't we want to share? If we had something that was precious, wouldn't we want to share at least some of them? The benefits of that precious, precious thing with Jesus himself, with the people of God, with the Christ that we encounter, not only when they're poor, but in fact because every human being is made in the image and likeness of God. Wouldn't we want to share that? 

Especially if in the sharing we are drawn to a deeper and better and bigger community with others. And that's really what we celebrate. It would be not good to pass over the fact that today is also the Feast of St. Vincent de Paul. 

You know, the 17th century in France was really, really a kind of a powerhouse for saints, I would say. Particularly saints who were called to serve the poor, that were called to serve those who didn't have the same hopes, the same opportunities, the same whatever you want to call it, there were a lot of saints that were were raised up during this time and St. Vincent de Paul was one of them and he was called to serve the poor and he really did create a way of life that served the poor. 

But there was an interesting twist on his vocation because the Vincentians are not only known for serving the poor, they are also known for forming clergy. And that was because St. Vincent de Paul really believed and really saw that if you wanted to serve the poor, the easiest way to help people to have their attitudes changed so they served the poor was to form the clergy. 

It is really an amazing, amazing thing. And so it's important to remember him today. They've got great, great ministries all over the world. They're officially known as the Conregation of the Missions. They have a women's religious group as well and and actually they have the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul which is a way in which many people are served by this dedication to the poor and to those who are... 

Is Jesus Rude?

Hello and welcome to Spend Five with Jesus. I am the Friar. This is Tuesday, September 26, 2023, and I am delighted to have you with us today. 

The Gospel is a rather interesting Gospel, and we might think that Jesus is almost being rude when we look at the way in which he talks about his brothers and his mother in the Gospel because they're out to see him. Now, we know that that these are relatives, his mother and his relatives that are really out to see him. 

And we may be wondering, "Oh, why wouldn't he want to see his mother? Why wouldn't he want to see his relatives?" That's a particularly good thing, right? We we go and visit our family. That would be something that would be really important for us, I think, to consider and to do. But the point is that what Jesus is getting at here is not really about family relationships at all. 

It's really about the most important relationship in any of our lives. So, Mary the mother of God, while she is the mother of Jesus and deserves respect as we know from the commandments that we see in the book of Deuteronomy and in the book of Exodus, that's not really what makes her a phenomenally outstanding woman. 

What makes her the phenomenally outstanding mother of God is because she is always and everywhere concerned about doing the will of God, about being open to the presence of God in her life, about doing the kinds of things that need to be done in order to really be faithful to God and to be faithful ultimately to her Divine Son for which she is the first disciple of the church. 

And so it is just really important to underscore that. And that's true for us as well. It's not that we are connected to the right people. You know, you hear a lot in the job situation of networking and the importance of being in networks, and that certainly is a good thing for careers and providing a living for oneself and so forth. 

But what's more important is not that we know the right people or even though important people, it's that we know Jesus. That we get to know Jesus in our life, that we get to know the Trinity, that we get to understand how it is that God is acting in our life and what it is that God is doing in our life and what is it that God wants us to do. 

What does it mean to do the will of God in our lives? Then we learn all these things by being in a deep relationship with Jesus and being active in the church that he founded. And that's really what's important for us today is to see how those two things are the constant foundation that we should be thinking about in our life. How do we enter into a deeper and deeper relationship with Jesus, which is really about firstly responding to the grace that God gives us, the invitation that God gives us. That's always primary. 

And then what does that look like as we seek then to be active in the church that he founded, the Catholic Church. How do we find ourselves being really involved in the ways in which we should be involved in living out our faith through the church, going to Mass and celebrating the sacraments and spending time in prayer and caring for the needs of the poor and loving God, loving neighbor. 

All of those kinds of things take place within the context of are seeing how it is that we can grow in this relationship. And that's what Jesus is getting at in today's readings. And so perhaps something to think about in your own life today is how is it that the relationship with Jesus is the most important relationship in your life? 

It does not mean that what we would be thinking about or doing is to ignore the human beings in our life. In fact, if you're married, your pathway to salvation, your vocation, is in fact through marriage. That's how God has called you to be in this particular situation. 

But how is God calling you to a deeper relationship with His Son? And then secondly, what is God calling you to do in love ...

God is EverywhereTranscript

Hello and welcome to Spend Five with Jesus for this Monday, September 25, 2023. I am the friar. It is wonderful to have you with us today. 

The first reading is a very good example of how God can use anyone for fulfillment, for faith, for good things. King Cyrus, in the first reading, is allowing the Israelites, who have been exiled to Babylon, to return to Jerusalem. And in so doing, he is also giving them the means necessary to rebuild the temple. 

Now Cyrus is not Jewish. Cyrus is not a member of the people of God. It is not that God rose up Cyrus because he was Jewish. But God used Cyrus and changed his heart to be a person of goodwill for the sake of the Jewish people. 

In our lives, it reminds us that we need to look around us and to find those instances where God is active and alive in everyone. We need to see where it is that God is doing great things. What are the blessings that God is giving in terms of our life and our world? How is God using you today? Maybe even (using you) in ways you are not currently aware of. What is it that you need to be attentive to? Where is it that God is calling you to be more a vehicle of His grace and His goodness? 

When God uses us, it's not in a utilitarian sense, but in a salvation sense, a faith sense. It's for the sake of our relationship with Jesus. That is why it is important for us to take advantage of those opportunities where we can see the presence of God active and alive in our midst. 

Spend some time in prayer today. Ask God to open your heart so that it will be ready to receive the Lord when He comes. Ask the Lord Jesus to fill your hearts with generosity so that when you see others in need, you will be inspired to reach out to help them. Ask God to help you to be grateful for those blessings that are a part of your life. 

Gratitude is not only good for the spirit of prayer, we know it makes a difference in how we feel and in our mental health. Take a moment today to be grateful for those people you love and whom you wish to pray for. Take a moment today to thank God for the fact that you are loved beyond your wildest dreams, beyond all kinds of imagining, beyond all understanding, that you are a beloved son or daughter of God, and God desires that everyone be saved. 

Let us ask the Lord for one last thing today. Let us ask the Lord to help us to see how it is that we are made in God's image and likeness, the ways in which we are called to recognize those tremendous and wonderful things that God does for us in simply making us us. In all things acknowledge the presence and person of God today so that you may grow in faith and holiness.

On the friar, you can listen to our homilies (based on the readings of the day) and reflections. You can also ask us to pray for you or to pray for others. You can subscribe to our website to be informed whenever we publish an update.