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, finding such a group is not hard. We find it more and more challenging to even talk politely to those with whom we disagree, let alone want to wish them good. What would you do if God gave you this call?

Such is the case for Jonah. He does not want God to be merciful to the Ninevites. He wants God simply to condemn them and cause them to die. He is told to go east, and he goes as far west as he can. For his disobedience in traveling west, Jonah is thrown overboard.

But God rescues Jonah and sends him to the Ninevites again. Much to Jonah's dismay, the Ninevites, from king to peasant, convert. Just what Jonah did not want to happen.

In an age where we are polarized, divided, angry, can we set aside our differences to at least get to a point where it is that we can talk to each other? Can we accept God's call to go forth and share our faith? And can we share our faith in a way that makes it most likely that all can see God's grace?

During the season of Lent, the call of God is one of conversion. How is it we can answer this call? The Church suggests prayer, fasting and almsgiving as strategies for conversion. These three pillars of Lent can help us to see more clearly the action of God in our lives, helping us to love Him more, and the need to love our neighbors more, even if our neighbor is someone we just do not like.

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.

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, and its tragic consequences, is probably the most difficult thing to understand in the world. With or without God, evil is difficult to endure. But somehow this can seem more difficult for people of faith, with an all-loving God who takes great care of us. If God is all-loving, why doesn't God just stop evil in the first place?

There are two reasons, both of which require faith to accept. But from the start, we believe this truth: God has a plan. One important consideration is that God created us in His image and likeness. To that end, one important attribute for a human is free will. (Our intellect and our will are the things that make us humans made in God's image and likeness.)

Now often freedom gets defined as being able to do whatever we want. But this is not freedom. Think of a child who could do anything. It might very well be the case they could be happy for a while, but ultimately they become trapped by the very things they want.

God's plan for freedom is different. Freedom is that ability to become who it is we were made to be. And so we are truly free to the degree that we become more and more like God in our lives. This sometimes involves sacrifice. This sometimes mean we choose to do something that is not immediately pleasurable. It may even mean choosing to do something that has negative consequences.

In order to understand the second reason for evil, we need to distinguish God's two wills. The first could be called God's active will, which because of God's nature, God can only will good. The second will is known as God's permissive will. That is, God permits some evil because God knows he can bring about a greater good from it.

And so for that reason, we can sing at the Easter Vigil about the happy fault of Adam. Even though the fall of our first parents impacted us all, insofar as we are born into a condition of sin, this fault brought about the incarnation, the divine Son of God, Jesus, who saved us from our sins.

This can, to be sure, be small consolation on the surface in the midst of deep suffering. But with faith, which is a gift given to us by God's grace, we can come to believe that something better awaits us. And God gives us plenty of evidence of his plan. God desires all to be saved. God's plan involves not leaving us in sin but sending His Son to die for us. God's plan involves a deep and loving desire for a powerful relationship with us.

And all this is good news indeed.

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.

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 list of ways of acting that help to provide the ways to make the internal conversions. It all comes down to making the last sentence true: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

But it is also important to remember the source of holiness. We are called to be holy because we seek a relationship with God, who is the source. It is really important to remember that our ability to do all of these things, to become holy, is possible only to the degree we receive the grace of God. We cannot do this on our own.

This becomes clear when we look at the great saints who have gone before us. None of them became a saint without prayer. None of them saw the ministry they engaged in as more important than their relationship with God. If we are to heed the call God had for Moses to give to the people, we need to dedicate ourselves to prayer that changes our hearts so much we can love our neighbor as ourselves.

We need to recognize that the season of Lent is really about recognizing that true holiness can only come from God. It never comes from ourselves, our hard work, or any other place but God. And seeking holiness is the primary purpose of the season of Lent.

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.

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 a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails. The ancient ruins shall be rebuilt for your sake, and the foundations from ages past you shall raise up; ""Repairer of the breach,"" they shall call you, ""Restorer of ruined homesteads.""

How wonderful it is when our fasting can really make a difference in the lives of others by our witness to the faith. Even better when our fasting is such that it continues beyond the season of Lent. Our compelling witness changes us when we love God more and love neighbor more.

All sin is a failure of relationship. In the Garden of Eden, the failure of Adam and Eve was one that did not value the relationship with God more than the lure of fruit. Their decision to reject God's command and eat the fruit broke their relationships. It broke, of course, their relationship with God, but also their relationship with each other and the world.  It even broke their relationship with themselves in causing shame.

Fasting can be understood as the restorer of a relationship. By going hungry, it is possible for us to develop empathy for the hungry, and thus feed them. By engaging in other types of fasting, it can help us to control our desires in a way that serves others. By controlling our simple desires, it can help us to remove the types of bad speech that comes from deep within us.

But all fasting still needs to have the focus of following more fully the two-fold command of loving God and loving neighbor. And when we do more fully love God and love our neighbor, by removing malicious speech, feeding the hungry and satisfying the afflicted, then our fasting becomes quite valuable.

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.

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 acceptable to the LORD?

What did you give up for Lent? I am sure you have been asked this question more than once this week. It seems like everyone wants to know. And too often, at least for me, the answer is that I decided to sacrifice some small thing. Did it change my life? Did I act differently after this small sacrifice?

Put simply, did the fasting I undertook really change my life? Was the fasting I engaged in really a difference-maker for me during Lent? (Or any other time?) Even worse, did I continue sinful ways at the same time I was fasting, making a mockery of my external witness?

The first reading today makes it clear that the real fasting God desires is pretty significant. "This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:

So what becomes clear because of this first reading is that if our external actions do not lead to more effective witness to the ways in which our hearts and actions are changing, or worse yet, do not indicate we are even trying to avoid sin, then it is at best a type of worthless fasting, and at worst a scandalous witness that could lead to our being unable to accept God's forgiveness or salvation.

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.

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 for a very good life. If only that were true. It is, in fact, only when we deny ourselves that we can really see things are they are.

How can I say that? Because there are unhappy and lonely people everywhere. There are people who seem to have it all, yet they ask, "Is this all there is?" Very wealthy people can go through lots of relationships, only to find them unfulfilling and unsatisfying.

The Lord Jesus offers a different way of life, one which we embrace during this season of Lent. "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." This is the paradox in life. It is in losing ourselves in Jesus that we find ourselves. It is when we give, then we receive. And in dying we are born to eternal life.

This is what the season of Lent is all about. It is to discover that life is not all about us. I cannot believe that the only thing I have to concern myself with, is myself. That isolates me and separates me from others.

I can work my whole life to gain lots of stuff. But, to what end? What will happen to all of this stuff when I die? If I remain disconnected from others, then how is it I can find that sense of community that fulfills? Perhaps most importantly, if I am seeking to gain the whole world, my quest means ignoring Jesus and what he wants for me. And that leads not to life, but to death.

So, deny yourself.

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.

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 season of Lent.

One thing I have been thinking about for this season of Lent is those people who I suggest have been dealt a bad hand. That is to say, those people who have not come to a relationship with Jesus because no one has presented a convincing reason why faith in Jesus even matters.

I think more and more today we live in a world where it is not the case that people are surrounded by good reasons to believe in Jesus. And the consequence of all this, is, in my view obvious. We have become more self-centered. This has made us more lonely. This has caused us to suffer mental health issues.

More and more people are living in a time where people feel that the most important value is to make sure they are part of a tribe that is on top. But that is not the instruction Jesus gave his disciples. Rather, he told them to teach all nations and to baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

But many times he told them more than this. There was the time in the gospel that Jesus told them to love their enemies, to pray for their persecutors. He told them to be neighbor to all in need. He told them to forgive not just once or twice, but to forgive a lot, yes, even every time.

Lent is a time for us to recognize more fully we need God and we belong to each other. We have a tremendous responsibility for each other. Pray more, fast more, give more. That is what Lent is all about.

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.

My son, when you come to serve the LORD, stand in justice and fear, prepare yourself for trials. Be sincere of heart and steadfast,

Get ready for the questions. What are you doing for Lent? What are you giving up? The temptation about Lent can be that we think it is really about us. What we do. What we give up. How much willpower we have. But I would suggest that the season of Lent is not all that different than the season of Advent. It is all about how well we wait on what God does in our lives.

When it comes to penance, we can focus exclusively on the external thing that we do, rather than focusing on the internal conversion of our heart. But the external things we do only have meaning to the degree that they help us to turn our hearts more and more toward God. They only have meaning if they cause a conversion of heart.

I think we focus on the external because it is easier. If I decide to give up chocolate, it is clear whether I have been successful or not. If I say I will not be on social media for Lent, there is an easy measure to see if I have been successful. The internal conversion of the heart is different. It is not always easy to see what it is that God is doing in our life.

And because it is not, internal conversion means we are not in control. God is. And God may ask me to go where I would rather not. God might ask me to let go of the sin I cling to in my life. It may be the case that God will ask me to love more, to be more charitable, to make things less about me and more about others. In short, about prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

To wait upon God is really to understand that wisdom of God. It is to see the world the way that God sees the world. It is to see ourselves the way God sees us. In short, it is, in our lives, to become more and more like God. And while God makes this easy, we know that we often make this hard.

So on this day before the start of Lent, think about what it is you need to do to love God more and to love your neighbor and yourself more. Ask God to help you to seek his grace so that you may more fully and completely open your heart to his love and his grace.

In doing this, you will be much more likely to become the person God has made you to be. You will become more fully yourself, a child of God. Have a blessed Lent!

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.

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 us had to create it with a purpose. How can there not be a God? For what is clear to me is that all creation is ordered to God.

We live in a world where it seems to me all things have a purpose. Yes, even mosquitoes. And when we look at the tremendous intricacy of all things created, how can there not be a designer? How is it the case that we cannot recognize, when we look to the heavens, how ordered everything is, how far beyond us is this vast universe?

For if we claim things are ordered, but no creator made them such, then why is it the case that anything is here? For what purpose? For what end? And if there is no purpose, no end, for what reason should I have any concern for any other part of creation? How can I have any responsibility for others, for the world, or anything at all?

If things are not ordered by a creator, then who gets to decide what is right or wrong? Majority? We know mob rule is not always pleasant. The strongest? We certainly know of the horrible evils powerful people can cause. The beauty for each of us is that just as the rest of creation, we too are ordered to glorify God.

Yet there is one critical difference between us and the rest of the created world. We can choose whether to do so or not. And this requires wisdom, the beauty God pours our upon us. It is the great gift God gives us so that we can thrive in holiness. And so let us pray today that we might gladly accept the ordered path upon which we are called to eternal life.

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.

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 and moments of our lives thinking that we really do not need God. Yet, at other times, we can find it hard to accept that we are loved by God beyond our wildest dreams.

Both of these extremes are the result and consequence of sin. Sin deceives. We think it good when we sin, but we are deceived. Sin can never bring the absolute fulfillment that God's love can bring to us. It is simply not possible. Sin is empty. God's love is full.

In both extremes of our life, we need to remember the words of Saint Paul. We are temples of the Holy Spirit. What this means is that in all things we are loved by God more than we can know or understand. But we have to move beyond seeing this only as the acceptance of a statement. We have to live this way.

And this means accepting that we experience our true fulfillment when we recognize we are made in God's image and likeness. And we live out of this identity of a child of God when we accept in our own lives that God gives us all of the help we need.

He loves us. He cares for us. He provides for us a way of life, that if we just accept what he says, we can be fulfilled beyond our wildest dreams. All we have to do is to recognize that God is God. We need to accept that God gives us very high dignity and wants us to live in His presence forever.

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.