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.

THURSDAY, WEEK XXVIII, ORDINARY TIME—Saint Teresa of Ávila, Doctor of the Church, October 15

Woe to you, scholars of the law!
You have taken away the key of knowledge.
You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.
(Lk 11:52)

Jesus’ conflict with the “scholars of the Law” is very harsh. Instead of opening the door and inviting people to enter the way of knowledge, they locked the door and threw away the key. Saint Teresa of Ávila opened the door to holiness and invited everyone to enter and to experience the presence of God in prayer.