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.

SATURDAY, WEEK XX, ORDINARY TIME—The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, August 22

And I saw that the temple was filled with the glory of the LORD. . . . . Then a voice said to me:  Son of man, this is where my throne shall be, this is where I will set the soles of my feet; here I will dwell among the children of Israel forever. (Ezekiel 43:5-7)

The summer of the prophets comes to a close with this final reading from the Prophet Ezekiel, the vision of the Glory of the Lord in the temple. But which temple, the physical temple in ruins, or the temple which is God’s people?

Today is the Octave of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We celebrate Mary receiving the Crown of Life from her Son. As my young Jesuit friend said so eloquently:

"Every teaching of the Church about Mary is a teaching about us as Christians as well. At her conception, she received the same grace that we all do at our baptism. At the end of her life she was raised just as Jesus, and just as we all shall be."

And today’s feast is no exception . . . the Crown of Life awaits each one of us.