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.

The First Martyrs of the Church of Rome, June 30

Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 34)
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
 When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
 and from all his distress he saved him.
 The angel of the LORD encamps
 around those who fear him, and delivers them.
 R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.

The Lord hears the cry of the poor . . . but the question comes, will we hear their cry? The first martyrs of the Roman church celebrates all those who died along with Peter and Paul in the first persecutions.