With age-old love I have loved you; so I have kept my mercy toward you. Again I will restore you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin Israel; Carrying your festive tambourines, you shall go forth dancing with the merrymakers. (Jer 31:1-7)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/080724.cfm
Age-old love . . . after all the harsh preaching, the prophet Jeremiah proves to really be a softie after all. And of course, the promise of restoration . . . with music and dancing no less. Saint Sixtus (215-258) was the bishop of Rome, and his companion martyrs are the six deacons of the city of Rome: Agapitus, Felicissimus, Vincentius, Magnus, Januarius, and Stephanus. The seventh deacon is Lawrence whose feast day is on August 10. The early church of Rome suffered the loss of its bishop and all seven of its deacons.
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 Sixtus II, Pope, and his Companions, Martyrs, August 7
