In our world today it can be difficult to hear the voice of our Good Shepherd Jesus Christ. We are constantly bombarded with noise and anxieties which seek to distract us. These other voices though do not bring the Good News that the voice of Jesus brings, they cannot. So how do we cut through the noise? Fr. Kevin Stephens, O.P. offers his thoughts and reminds us: The voice of Jesus is the voice we have been hardwired to hear. It is the voice that we have always and will always look for. For the...
May 03, 2020•6 min
We continue the Bread of Life discourse in the Gospel today and we see those who did not remain with Jesus, those who found his sayings too difficult. Fr. Mark Wedig, O.P., in his homily on the Gospel reflects on his experience as a Dominican these past 40 years. Many brothers have stayed and enjoyed the banquet of Wisdom which comes from Christ's presence. But others have left and for some this was Providence and for others it was foolishness. Fr. Mark reminds us of the power and the wisdom of ...
May 02, 2020•5 min
Often particular people are drawn and attracted to particular saints. Perhaps it is the hardships and struggles the saint endured, maybe it was the manner of their preaching. But everyone can find something to be drawn to in the life of St. Joseph the Worker whose feast is today. St. Joseph did not preach in words. Instead he quietly and humbly went about doing God's work. St. Joseph was a craftsman all his life, laboring for his community. St. Joseph is the Universal Patron of the Church and hi...
May 01, 2020•7 min
Often in conversations we can listen only to respond. The sudden cessation of noise means its our turn to speak, but what God asks of us is for us to hear with the ear of our hearts through Lectio Divina . Fr. Ed Ruane, O.P., breaks down both our need for deep reflection on Scripture and also on how the Father himself draws us to Christ through this reflection. Let us listen with the ear of our hearts to the Father who pulls us into Christ's presence. For the daily readings, see the USCCB ....
Apr 30, 2020•4 min
Today the Dominicans and the entire Church celebrate the witness of the Doctor and Virgin, St. Catherine of Siena. A woman of deep prayer, contemplation, and communion with God who ventured out in service to the poor and the entire People of God. St. Catherine reminds us that Jesus Christ is himself the Way that leads us to Heaven. He never promised it was an easy path to follow but as long as we remain in and with Jesus we remain on the Way. And the entire Way is Heaven because we are with Chri...
Apr 29, 2020•4 min
Often we fail to see the Lord working in our lives. We can believe that all our gifts, all our blessings and talents are of our own making. But the truth is, it is always God working in and through us. Fr. Simon-Felix Michalski, O.P., reminds us to look for the Lord working in our lives and to try and see everything in a new and different way. We have to recognize like Stephen did, that God is at work and our ministry only bears fruit when rooted in Christ. For the daily readings, see the USCCB.
Apr 28, 2020•5 min
In the readings today Christ begins the Bread of Life discourse and we see the great gift that Jesus has given us both in his Body and in His Word. We too are like the crowds and are grateful for the gift. But do we understand what the gifts really mean? Do we understand what they tell us about the giver of those gifts? The gifts of God come with a challenge. We are tasked with coming to better understand what it is we believe. What gifts has God granted you in your life and what challenges do t...
Apr 27, 2020•6 min
We are often disappointed in our lives. The disciples on the road to Emmaus were also disappointed. They had hoped Jesus was the one to save Israel and to usher in a time of wonder. And then Jesus died and with it went their hope. But Jesus returned to them, opening the Scriptures their eyes and breaking bread for them. We must never lose our Christian Hope which rests in the promise of Christ. We have to continue to cultivate the virtue of hope and to recognize that even with all Christ has giv...
Apr 26, 2020•7 min
We are confronted with two different portrayals of lions today. On one hand, St. Mark, whose Feast is today, is portrayed as a lion. This symbolizes courage and bravery in the face of persecutions and anxieties. We're all meant to be brave as we proclaim the Gospel. But we also see the Devil portrayed as a lion and the Devil is certainly not noble or brave. In fact, he is weak and he preys on the weak. Listen to Deacon Chris Johnson, O.P., break down what these opposing images mean for us and ou...
Apr 25, 2020•4 min
In our lives we are confronted with many worries, many problems. In the face of some of these problems we can feel powerless and ineffectual. But the response of Andrew in the Gospel gives us a hint at how we can respond. Confronted by the vast crowd of people, the disciples are left wondering: how are we to feed these people? Andrew's reply is simple but evocative: He tells Jesus what they have. And then Jesus does what Jesus always does. He provides. We need only offer to God what we have, God...
Apr 24, 2020•3 min
“It is impossible to persevere in a fervent evangelization unless we are convinced from personal experience that it is not the same thing to have known Jesus as not to have known him, not the same thing to walk with him as to walk blindly, not the same thing to hear his word as not to know it, to find our peace in him, as not to. - Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel Fr. DePorres Durham, O.P., uses the first reading to remind us of what we have heard both by Pope Francis and throughout Christianity:...
Apr 23, 2020•4 min
In Baptism we are not only cleansed from our sins but we become adopted by the Holy Spirit in a special and intimate manner. Fr. Mark Wedig, O.P., takes us back in time to the early Church's understanding of Baptism and then asks us to consider what it really means for our lives that we are adopted by the Spirit. For the daily readings, see the USCCB .
Apr 22, 2020•4 min
The question posed by Nicodemus is one which we all ask in one way or another. How are we to know that the Spirit is really working in the world if we cannot see it and understand it? How are we to be born again in the Spirit if we don't know anything about the Spirit? But as we learn both in Thomas Aquinas and Galatians we can learn about the cause of something by looking at its effects, or in the case of the Holy Spirit, the Fruits of the Spirit. Fr. Ed Ruane, O.P., says that we can see the Fr...
Apr 21, 2020•5 min
It's human to prefer the familiar and the known. We hesitate before stepping into an unknown or unfamiliar situation. And yet, Fr. Michael Mascari, O.P., reminds us that it is God who is in control. The Holy Spirit moves like a wind through our lives and, like it says in the Gospel, we are not sure where it comes from or where it goes. By our Baptism we become more open to the promptings and movement of the Spirit within our own lives and discover that the unknown is not as dangerous as we thoug...
Apr 20, 2020•4 min
Br. Benjamin Keller, O.P., preaches for the Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday) on 1 Peter 1:3-9. How do we hang on to joy, to the joy of the Gospel, even in the midst of our current anxieties? For many, their lives have never been more unsettled or more turbulent. We have lost control of our lives and there are no easy answers. But Br. Ben Keller, O.P., assures us that Christ walks beside us in the dark. He walks with us through our sorrows and pains and for each of us he offers somet...
Apr 19, 2020•5 min
Some of the hardest things we are asked to do as Christians is to accept both our need for mercy and to extend that mercy to others. Accepting and extending mercy means making ourselves vulnerable to others. Mercy means we have to have the humility to recognize our own mistakes. And mercy means we have to accept that this is what Jesus did and so we have to do the same. Deacon Christopher Johnson, O.P. makes it clear: when Jesus returned and appeared to the disciples in the locked room he gave t...
Apr 19, 2020•10 min
Open up the newspaper or turn on the news and very likely you will see some bad news. It is so easy for us to be caught up in the grief and tragedy of this world and forget that this is the Easter Season and we are an Easter people. The Good News may not be on the television screen, but it is a constant presence in our life if we slow down and remember it. Jesus Christ is risen indeed. The tomb is empty. This is the Good News which we are called to preach with joy and exultation. Alleluia !...
Apr 18, 2020•4 min
In the wake of Christ's death, it must have been tempting for the disciples to return to the old normal, to what they were always used to after the apparent tragedy of the Crucifixion. But Jesus does not call us into the past or ask us to go backwards. Rather, Jesus asks us to embrace a new and transformational new normalcy. In the midst of this pandemic/ and the real tragedy that it has been, we are encouraged to find in this new normalcy some measure of grace. People and nations are forced to ...
Apr 17, 2020•6 min
In our Christian lives, and especially in these difficult times, we have to rely on the Cross of Jesus Christ. We have to make a leap of faith and trust in God's promise and The Cross provides something for us to hang on to in the midst of our doubts and our tribulations. The Cross is hope. It is also encouragement. Each of us is asked by God to do some service, some act for God and for our neighbors. But often we fail to make the leap and we ask again and again: Who, me? Do you mean me, God? Ye...
Apr 16, 2020•3 min
Often the Christian life can be a bit like Where's Waldo. In moments of doubt and anxiety, or even in moments of joy, we can find it difficult to see Christ in the midst of our life. We need to know where to look and it is The Church which teaches us where to look through the mystery of Her Life in Christ. In the first reading we see the joy of the crippled man after he is healed and we see that it is this witness of joy which convinces the people in the Temple of God's power and wonder. In the ...
Apr 15, 2020•6 min
Some stories are worth telling again. And the story of our Salvation is certainly one of those, Fr. Scott O'Brien, O.P., reminds us. Each year we hear the same readings, the same stories of Resurrection and the response of our ancestors in the Faith. And each time the story only grows, going deeper into our lives as we internalize the message of God's love which is still pouring out to us today. For the readings of the day, see the USCCB ....
Apr 14, 2020•5 min
There were in the days after the Resurrection, as well as today, those who disbelieve the Resurrection. Even among Christians there can be a tendency to not recognize the radical mystery of the Resurrection and what it asks of us. The Resurrection calls for us not merely to die to our sins but also to give up those things which we cherish most and so to gain Christ in the fullness of his glory. Fr. Michael Mascari, O.P., uses the example of Mary Magdalene to explain that even she had to let go o...
Apr 13, 2020•6 min
Christ is Risen! Christos anesti! For the readings for Easter Morning, see the USCCB . We live in uncertain times. This is not the Easter we wanted or planned for when we began the Lenten Season. COVID-19 has shattered our plans and expectations, Rev. Br. Christopher Johnson, O.P., says. And yet this uncertainty is the same uncertainty felt at the First Easter with the Apostles. And we like them are called to hope in the Lord who makes good even out of the darkest of our experiences. We have hop...
Apr 12, 2020•10 min
Christ is Risen! Alleluia! The readings for the Vigil Mass can be found on the USCCB . The story of Salvation History, which we see played out in the Easter Vigil readings, is a tale which we are invited to enter into once again this Easter. It is a story which calls us out of the tomb of our sins and pasts, wiping them away. It is a story which calls us into the new life of Christ. It doesn’t matter when we enter this story, what matter is that we enter it at all. Christ calls and we must answe...
Apr 12, 2020•9 min
For the readings for Good Friday, see the USCCB . The question Fr. Mark poses to us: What was Jesus doing on the Cross? Christ's suffering was not simply some sort of penal punishment. Rather, the Crucifixion is the full intensity of Trinitarian Love poured out through Christ's suffering for us. Christ redeemed us by loving us with a reckless and suffering extravagance which is beyond our human understanding. We are redeemed through and by God's persistent and abiding presence in our own sufferi...
Apr 10, 2020•6 min
For the readings for Holy Thursday, see the USCCB . On Holy Thursday, we are called to remember both the great gift and also the great challenge that Eucharist is for each of us. It is a gift in that Christ has given us himself as food for the journey. We our nourished and strengthened by this heavenly food and are slowly transformed. But as Fr. DePorres Durham, O.P. reminds us, we are also called to be transformed by this Eucharist and to then be the Body of Christ to a world in need of transfo...
Apr 10, 2020•9 min
Daily homilies and preachings from the Dominican House of Studies in St. Louis, MO. For the daily readings to accompany these preachings see the USCCB . Judas Iscariot remains forever one of the great villains of history. But more than a villain, he is a tragedy. In turning his back on Christ, in refusing to seek mercy and forgiveness for his betrayal, Judas betrayed not only Jesus and the disciples. He betrayed himself. That's what sin does. It takes what is great within us and it twists it bey...
Apr 08, 2020•5 min
Daily homilies and preachings from the Dominican House of Studies in St. Louis, MO. For the daily readings to accompany these preachings see the USCCB . We live in troubling times. It is easy for us to panic, to become anxious or worried and to lose perspective. Fr. Kevin Stephens, O.P., reminds us that even Jesus was "deeply troubled." Christ has taken on our flesh, carried our sins, and he can take our worries and anxieties as well. We may be troubled, but we must trust in the Lord. For like i...
Apr 07, 2020•5 min
Daily homilies and preachings from the Dominican House of Studies in St. Louis, MO. For the daily readings to accompany these preachings see the USCCB . The actions of Mary in today's Gospel seem strange, Rev. Br. Christopher Johnson, O.P., explains. She opens herself up to ridicule and to scorn because of the extravagance of her action. But those extravagant actions of Mary are founded upon something even more extravagant. The love of Christ for her. Each of us is called to pour out our own exp...
Apr 06, 2020•5 min
Rev. Br. Joseph Paul Albin, O.P. preaches during the Mass on Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. Brother Joseph Paul shares with us that we are to look for the crucified one and bow to Him. Christ is our companion in our suffering. “Truly, this was the Son of God.” https://friarly.com/...
Apr 06, 2020•7 min•Season 2Ep. 35
