Author Archives: Friar Musings

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About Friar Musings

Franciscan friar and Catholic priest at St. Francis of Assisi in Triangle, VA

The greatest of gifts

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In today’s first reading, the epistle to the Galatians, the apostles makes clear that justification does come by works of the law: “For all who depend on works of the law are under a curse.” The Church has, from its earliest times, condemned “works salvation” as I mentioned in my reflection earlier this week pointing to the Pelagian heresy. That heresy held that, while not very likely, man possesses the ability apart from God’s grace to gain salvation. To believe that premise would make one a full-on Pelegian. Many in the Reformed and Protestant traditions would suggest that Catholics are semi-Pelegians. Continue reading →

Buona Festa!!

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Today is the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. Many blessings to all Franciscans and all those of a Franciscan heart.

The Lord bless you and keep you.
May He show His face to you and have mercy.
May He turn His countenance to you and give you peace.
The Lord bless you!

Happy Feast Day!

The boundaries

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This Sunday is the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The telling of this encounter seems straight forward: (a) Jesus encounters a group of lepers on the road to Jerusalem, (b) they ask for his mercy, (c) they are cured, but (d) only one returns to thank Jesus and that one is a Samaritan. A simple miracle story, yes? A narrative about faith as the foundation of healing? Such simple summaries, even if true, miss several key aspects of the encounter and the chance to reflect further on our own life of faith in Jesus. Continue reading →

The cost of being in love

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Our gospel is the well known story referred to as the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). The reading opens with a question posed to Jesus: “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  After recounting the parable, the reading closes with Jesus asking the one who posed the question: “Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?”  The man replied: “The one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” Continue reading →

More than a simple miracle

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This Sunday is the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Lectionary Cycle C. Our gospel recounts the story of Jesus and the 10 lepers he encounters on his travels through Galilee and Samaria. The journey towards Jerusalem (begun in Luke 9:51) resumes with the introduction of  new characters: ten lepers. It may be noted that the disciples play no role in this story. For a brief moment the on-going theme of forming discipleship seemingly takes a backseat, as the accent is upon God’s mercy and salvation. Several commentators hold that this account marks a new turn in Luke’s telling of the gospel moving from an accent on discipleship to the larger theme of “Responding to the Kingdom” as the cleansing of lepers is taken as a sign of the in-breaking of the Kingdom. Continue reading →

A next step

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You have to feel for the disciples. In recent gospels Jesus has been asking some fairly extraordinary things of them – to give away their possessions, to forgive countless times, to take up his cross, and the list goes on. No wonder then, they ask for more faith. They don’t feel up to what is being asked of them, are anxious about the challenges ahead, and just can’t imagine accomplishing what is being asked of them. Continue reading →