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.

MONDAY, WEEK XXIX, ORDINARY TIME—North American Martyrs, October 19

For we are God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus for good works.
(Eph 2:10)

God’s work of art . . . wow! But that’s who we are. At times Mother Nature may make mistakes, but God never does.
Today is the feast of the North American martyrs: St René Goupil (1642), St Isaac Jogues (1646), St Jean de Lalande (1646), St Antoine Daniel (1648), St Jean de Brébeuf (1649), St Noël Chabanel (1649), St Charles Garnier (1649), and St Gabriel Lalemant (1649). They were French missionaries to the native population of North America. There was a dramatic portrayal of the challenges (and horrors) faced by the missionaries in the Canadian film, Black Robe (1991).