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.

WEDNESDAY, WEEK XXIV, ORDINARY TIME—Cornelius & Cyprian, Martyrs, September 16

Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, love is not pompous,
it is not inflated, it is not rude,
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing
but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.
(1 Cor 13:4-8)

Saints Cornelius and Cyprian were both caught up in the persecutions of Christians: Cornelius, bishop of Rome, Cyprian, bishop of Carthage. Although they died at different times and in different places, they are celebrated together for their witness to Christ and to the “Love that never fails.”