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 Francis of Assisi, religious, October 4

Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 69)
R. The Lord listens to the poor.


See, you lowly ones, and be glad; you who seek God, may your hearts revive! For the LORD hears the poor, and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.


R. The Lord listens to the poor.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100425.cfm
In the conclave when Cardinal Bergoglio was elected, his friend, the cardinal from Honduras who was sitting next to him said, “Don’t forget the poor!” As a consequence, when they asked him by what name he wanted to be called, he chose the name Francis. Later he shocked the cardinals by saying he wanted a church of the poor. Saint Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) reminds the church that Christ is always found in the face of the poor.