We here in Florida, the current epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, are entering the heart of hurricane season. All seasoned Floridians are quietly watching the forecasts from the tropics and west of the Azores Islands. As the philosopher George Santayana remarked, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” So in case someone has forgotten, our friends at NOAA are here to help us remember the past. Continue reading
Magdalene Penitent
Donatello
Museo dell’Opera del Duomo – Florence
Did you know that Mary Magdalene is mentioned 12 times in the gospels, more than most of the Apostles. She was present at the crucifixion and was the first witness to the Resurrection (John 20 and Mark 16:9). She was the “Apostle to the Apostles”, an honorific that St. Augustine bestowed upon her in the fourth-century, and possibly he was but repeating a moniker already in use.
Mary Magdalene has long been confused with other women in Scripture also named Mary as well as an anonymous women, the unnamed sinner (commonly thought to have been a prostitute) in Luke 7:36-50. In time, the identities of all these women were conflated into one in the person of “Mary Magdalene, the repentant prostitute.” The first written evidence we have of this conflation of Mary Magdalene being a repentant prostitute comes from Ephraim the Syrian in the fourth century. Continue reading
The reading from today’s gospel (with a few extra verses) and St. Francis of Assisi’s answer to the question.
20 Jesus came with his disciples into the house. Again the crowd gathered, making it impossible for them even to eat. 21 When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” … 31 His mother and his brothers arrived. Standing outside they sent word to him and called him. 32 crowd seated around him told him, “Your mother and your brothers* [and your sisters] are outside asking for you.” 33 But he said to them in reply, “Who are my mother and [my] brothers?” 34 And looking around at those seated in the circle he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 35[For] whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3) Continue reading
Next Sunday is the celebration of the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time. You can read a complete commentary on the Gospel here.
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. 46 When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it. 47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. 48 When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. 49 Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. 51 “Do you understand all these things?” They answered, “Yes.” 52 And he replied, “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.” (Matthew 13:44-52) Continue reading
We all have people in our lives with whom interaction leads to weariness. We get tired of hearing the same story, tirade, commentary, joke, response, the same sameness. We all have moments in our lives when “life” just adds up to makes us weary. We lack motivation, energy, enthusiasm, and sometimes are just bone tired. Maybe it is the realization that you have already explained how to do something, the same something, to the same person, and nothing changes. You grow weary and are on the road to not caring, emotional shutdown, and not a whole lot seems attractive or not engaging enough to actually get up and engage. Continue reading
It’s your first baby. It has been great. Sure, it has been hard work, but what a bundle of joy. And tomorrow is the last day of maternity leave. You have a great job and love the people you work with. Maybe you should stay home longer? Maybe the family can get by on one salary? But there is a great day care center near work. Maybe we could nanny-share with a neighbor? But the big project that you really want to be part of is coming up…. Such is the circumstance of ambivalence. Continue reading
It was a simple email. The writer said that she was committed to reading and studying the Bible. For her first time through, she wanted to accomplish it in a two-year period. She had already researched the internet for Bible study plans and discovered there are tons of plans, lots of perspectives, and advice a plenty. So much so, it was hard to sort through it all. And such was the genesis of the email asking for advice on “the plan.” Continue reading
In 
the 16th Week of Ordinary Time, the first reading for daily Mass comes from the Prophet Micah. So, take a moment find out more about this amazing prophet of the Lord.
Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah. Like his better-know contemporary, Micah proclaimed God’s word during the reigns of three kings of Judah: Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. It was during a particularly turbulent era when each of the three Judaean kings had to face the machinations of four Assyrian kings with empire expansion on their minds. The Assyrian goal was simple: completely dominate the western Fertile Crescent that also included the Kingdoms of Israel (north) and Judea (south). There is not a great deal of biographical information in the text itself to narrowly date the time of Micah’s ministry, but the consensus of scholars is that his earliest writings preceded the fall of the northern kingdom, Israel, in 722 BCE. The majority of his writing are associated with the 701 BCE threat again Jerusalem/Judah by King Sennecherib of Assyria. This leads to the best estimate of a ministry that covered some 20+ years. The solitary reference to Micah outside the book (Jer 26:17–18) places him in the reign of Hezekiah and reports that he went from his small town to proclaim the word of the Lord in the capital, and asserts that his announcements of judgment against Jerusalem moved the king and the people to repentance. Continue reading
Today is the Feast of St. Bonaventure the great Franciscan saint, theologian and provincial minister of the Order in the mid-13th century. There are a special set of feast day readings for the Saint. I was particularly taken by the feast day’s first reading that describes a deep abiding intercessory prayer by St. Paul for the community of Ephesus: Continue reading
Today marks the Feast Day of one of the great figures in Franciscan history – St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio – as well as the 15th anniversary of our Franciscan presence in this historic downtown parish. St. Bonaventure is a good model of what it means to be a Franciscan while at the same time being a priest in leadership positions in a parish. Bonaventure reminded the friars of his day that our first vocation is as “brother.” At the core of our charism, we are a fraternity in mission to the People of God striving to continue our Order’s 800-year-old mission: bringing the Gospel into the everyday experience of men and women through our life in fraternity and compassionate service to all. Continue reading
friarmusings 