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.

Saint Anthony, abbot, January 17 (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day--USA)

Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins. (Mk 2:18-22)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011722.cfm
New wine, new wineskins. Sometimes God has to do something completely new in order to change the church. That happened in the time AFTER the persecutions when the church had grown fat. Anthony of Egypt (251-356) heard the gospel “Go, sell what you have, give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, then come follow me,” (Mk 10:21) and he knew that those words were addressed to him. He did what the Lord asked and went into the desert. It is said that nearly 10,000 men and women followed Anthony into the desert, and soon the beginnings of monasticism took root, and the church was renewed. Martin Luther King, Jr., challenged the racism and segregation of a nation and troubled many religious consciences. Today's video is from his last speech the night before his assassination.