Beloved: This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance:
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of these I am the foremost. (1 Tim 1:15-17)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091623.cfm
Although the Letters to Timothy are not directly from Saint Paul, they are written in his name. Today’s passage is one of my favorites. Not one of us can be the greatest sinner in the world—that honor has already been claimed for Saint Paul. Kinda lets the rest of us off the hook. Cyprian and Cornelius believed in God’s mercy, for which they faced many challenges in their ministries in Carthage and in Rome; they share the martyr’s crown together.
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.
Saints Cyprian and Cornelius, martyrs, September 16
