To Be or ...

To Be or ...


In Matthew 13 we read about the people of Jesus' native place. They were so overly familiar with him that they took offense at his teachings and miracles. "Where did this man get all this?", they stated. "But Jesus said to them, 'A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and in his own house.' And he did not work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith."


Many people have a "been there, done that, got the t-shirt" attitude towards Christianity. Inspired by this dynamic, Mel Gibson wanted to film The Passion of The Christ in Aramaic. He wanted Christ to strike us afresh, in a new way. When I type "To be or ..." You automatically know the rest, "or not to be. That is the question." Gibson believed that many people do the same thing with Jesus. We are so overly familiar with him that we lack faith.


Pray for the grace to experience the life-giving radicalness of Jesus and his Gospel anew so that he may work many mighty deeds in your life.

God bless,

Fr. Luke Mary Fletcher, CFR

The Words of Jesus

The Words of Jesus


Perhaps one of the greatest struggles in embracing the gospel is the command of Jesus to let go of our entire life.  The control we think we have, the anxiety we often create, our disordered desires that only serve to hurt us, our ideas about ourselves and others and our own will often reveal themselves in the light of the gospel as an illusion, a mask that is surrounded in unreality.


Jesus reminds us that everything that is true and beautiful about life comes from Him.  His words alone remove the veil that we so often remain trapped behind.  "Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.  The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house.  But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock."  Mt 7:24-25


A wise person is one who looks at their life and realizes that by himself they are incomplete and in need of an "other."  Jesus Christ is therefore not a crux for "weak" people but the cure and the remedy for the blindness and sickness we live in without Him.  Those who listen to His words and build their life upon Him will not be moved despite the trends and fashions that blow through society and leave so many people lost and wandering aimlessly for direction in their life.   

Br. Jeremiah Myriam Shryock, CFR

St. Leopold Friary, Yonkers, NY