The Friar Podcasts - preaching prayer and spiritual reflections

Is faith reasonable? Are we really expected to do what God asks us? We explore ever so briefly the concept of faith and reason in today's Going Behind the Word.

Don't Throw Caution to the Wind. The homily today explores the concept of what it means to live as a Christian, especially when the task seems daunting, even impossible. David has the chance to kill King Saul (who is seeking to kill David) but he does not. The gospel has a seemingly impossible list of tasks that are supposed to be done by those who are Christians.

What is truth?

What does seem apparent is the struggle that results from the search for the truth. What is truth? That was the very important question asked by Pilate. The struggle apparent in Augustine is seen in the attempt to reconcile the various aspects of truth. Actors stir real emotions even though the play is fiction. Being a good lawyer demands being crafty.

What is real, then? What is is that is necessary for a person to discover what lies beneath the surface? Talented actors, artists and teachers can evoke strong feelings in a way that real experiences may not. In a time where our own society can be one in search of truth, what is real, it seems that our own circumstance today is not that much different than the circumstance of Augustine.

In Going Behind the Word we take the time to explore the connection between the first reading from the letter of James about God not tempting us, and the Our Father where we pray, "Lead us not into temptation."

The resurrection must be an historical event, for if it is not, we are still in our sins. If it is not, our faith is in vain. How is it we can reasonably believe the resurrection is an historical event? Today's podcast tells us how.

Let's answer the second question first. Can't God forgive my sins? Of course. God is always the one who chooses to forgive sins. Going to confession does not change the fact that God is the agent of forgiveness. And yet, God shares this authority with his Church through the priest. "Only God forgives sins. Since he is the Son of God, Jesus says of himself, "The Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" and exercises this divine power: "Your sins are forgiven." Further, by virtue of his divine authority he gives this power to men to exercise in his name."

The homily today describes how we are forgiven not by what we do, but by what God does. Going Behind the Word describes why the Sacrament of Confession is in fact how it is that we experience forgiveness by what God does and not what we do.

The homily today discusses how the people we associate with can either make us better or make us worse. King Solomon allows his foreign wives to lead him into harmful and dangerous worship and living.

In the history of the people of Israel, one sad element of the story is the split of the  kingdoms into the Northern Kingdom, Israel, and the Southern Kingdom, Judah. In the northern kingdom, what happened was that the kings that led the people often chose to worship the gods of the Canaanites, and to build "high places" where they were worshiped.

Perhaps it was because my brother and I helped my mom move into a senior facility that I was struck by the line from the gospel today about ignoring the needs of parents in the name of serving God. Here is what I am referring to when I say this. "For Moses said, Honor your father and your mother, and Whoever curses father or mother shall die. Yet you say, ‘If someone says to father or mother, “Any support you might have had from me is qorban”’ (meaning, dedicated to God), you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother."