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.

Monday, Week XXI, Ordinary Time, Saint Rose of Lima, August 23

Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 149)
R.    The Lord takes delight in his people.
Let them praise his name in the festive dance,
    let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.
For the LORD loves his people,
    and he adorns the lowly with victory.
R.    The Lord takes delight in his people.

What a thought—that God takes delight in us! In a time when we feel so exasperated and angry with ourselves and one another, we need a friendly reminder that God still loves us and even more, God finds pleasure in us. And so the invitation to praise God with music and dancing and joyful song means that we are to delight in God. Saint Rose of Lima, canonized in 1671, is the first saint of the Americas. She found her delight in God through her service of the poor.