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.

Friday, Week XV, Ordinary Time—Our Lady of Mount Carmel, July 16

It is the Passover of the LORD.
 For on this same night I will go through Egypt,
 striking down every first born of the land, both man and beast,
 and executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt—I, the LORD! 
But the blood will mark the houses where you are.
 Seeing the blood, I will pass over you; 
thus, when I strike the land of Egypt,
 no destructive blow will come upon you. “This day shall be a memorial feast for you, 
which all your generations shall celebrate
 with pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual institution.” (Exodus 11:10-12:14)

The story of the Passover is the story of liberation of the people of Israel. Saint Paul ties the image of the Passover Lamb to the Eucharist in order to say, “Christ our Passover has been sacrificed, let us celebrate the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor 5:7-8).