These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh.They are children of Israel; theirs the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; theirs the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen. (Rom 9:1-5)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/103125.cfm
Paul’s appreciation of the faith of the Jewish people is reflected in the declaration of the Second Vatican Council, Nostra Aetate (1965): the church decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone. (Nostra Aetate, 4) Today’s photo is from our pilgrimage to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. Today’s psalm is a Blues Gospel version of Psalm 84, How Lovely is Your Dwelling Place. https://youtu.be/UP-qjywTeoI?si=xVk6SzB9Jk0CgGkc
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8:31b-39)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/103025.cfm
One of the most quoted passages from Saint Paul, but at the same time, the passage least believed. If no one and no thing can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus, why are so many of us convinced that the Lord couldn’t possibly love us? As Saint Paul teaches, Christ loves us even when we can’t manage to love ourselves. https://youtu.be/i08da4iH9Dw?si=bmTiq8kGuUQNLm4s
People will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the Kingdom of God. (Lk 13:22-30)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102925.cfm
What a powerful image of the Eucharist. I’m so grateful to have celebrated and attended Masses with communities of faith in other countries. As the old hymn sings: In Christ there is no east or west, in him no south or north, but one great fellowship of love throughout the whole wide earth! Today’s picture is of Saint Bridget Catholic Church in Fredrikstad, Norway. Today’s video is from Chapel of Kristus Aman in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. https://youtu.be/z54-9_kaKL0?si=TFx3sW1u3tPZY-Tn
Jesus went up to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles. (Lk 6:12-16)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102825.cfm
Only Luke’s gospel says that the Twelve were also named apostles, but there are many more apostles, for example Paul and Barnabas are also apostles. The Letter to the Ephesians says that we are members of the household of God built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Christian prophets and Christian apostles preached the gospel to the community at Ephesus. And all together we are built into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Today's photo is of the ancient city of Ephesus. https://youtu.be/Cf_Rqaywb5M?si=3Uk3D5d6fpAPGE3r
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, "Abba, Father!" (Rom 8:12-17)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102725.cfm
Through the spirit of adoption we recognize that God is our Father and that we are all sisters and brothers. Unfortunately, many prefer the spirit of slavery. In his Apostolic Exhortation, Pope Leo talks about the inhuman treatment of immigrants: “Where the world sees threats, the church sees children; where walls are built, the church builds bridges. She knows that her proclamation of the Gospel is credible only when it is translated into gestures of closeness and welcome. And she knows that in every rejected migrant, it is Christ himself who knocks at the door of the community” (Dilexi te, 75). https://youtu.be/q1R4xFrQQNE?si=UQc7zy99lhFfNg6O
