For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh.They are children of Israel; theirs the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; theirs the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen. (Rom 9:1-5)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/103125.cfm
Paul’s appreciation of the faith of the Jewish people is reflected in the declaration of the Second Vatican Council, Nostra Aetate (1965): the church decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone. (Nostra Aetate, 4) Today’s photo is from our pilgrimage to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. Today’s psalm is a Blues Gospel version of Psalm 84, How Lovely is Your Dwelling Place. https://youtu.be/UP-qjywTeoI?si=xVk6SzB9Jk0CgGkc
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.
Friday XXX, Ordinary Time (All Hallow’s Eve)
