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 V, EASTER

Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 122)

R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
I rejoiced because they said to me,
    “We will go up to the house of the LORD.”
And now we have set foot
    within your gates, O Jerusalem.
R.  Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

A psalm of pilgrimage expressing the joy of pilgrims arriving at the goal of their journey, the House of the Lord. Cardinal Roger Mahony, in his pastoral letter on the liturgy, Gather Faithfully Together, talks about the true entrance procession of the Mass beginning in the homes and apartments all through the neighborhood:

“So this is the entrance procession, coming from all directions, made up of all ages, several races, a variety of economic circumstances and political outlooks -- and speaking at least three first languages! But they are all in a great procession, the Church assembling in the house of the Church. “We shall go up with joy,” “Que alegría cuando me dijeron vamos a la casa del Señor.”