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.
Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 90)
R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,
that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
And may the gracious care of the LORD our God be ours;
prosper the work of our hands for us!
Prosper the work of our hands!
R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
What a joyful psalm! To be filled with the love of the Lord . . . to shout for joy and gladness all our days. And the final petition: Prosper the work of our hands! The work of our hands is to build a world of justice where everyone can find a place at the table of the human family.
Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 139)
R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord.
Where can I go from your spirit?
From your presence where can I flee? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I sink to the nether world, you are present there.
R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord.
If I take the wings of the dawn, if I settle at the farthest limits of the sea, Even there your hand shall guide me, and your right hand hold me fast.
R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord.
Today’s psalm reminds us that God knows us better than we know ourselves. There is nowhere we can go to escape the “Hound of Heaven” as the poet Francis Thompson refers to God. Today's picture is the painting The Hound of Heaven by William Kurelek.
Philip found Nathanael and told him,
“We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law,
and also the prophets, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”
But Nathanael said to him,
“Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
Philip said to him, “Come and see.” (Jn 1:45-51)
Philip does not try to convince Nathaniel by arguments or proofs . . . he simply invites Nathaniel to “Come and see.” Perhaps it’s a lesson about evangelization that we all need to learn. Today's picture is a statue of Saint Bartholomew (who was flayed alive) from the Cathedral of Milan.
Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 149)
R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
Let them praise his name in the festive dance,
let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.
For the LORD loves his people,
and he adorns the lowly with victory.
R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
What a thought—that God takes delight in us! In a time when we feel so exasperated and angry with ourselves and one another, we need a friendly reminder that God still loves us and even more, God finds pleasure in us. And so the invitation to praise God with music and dancing and joyful song means that we are to delight in God. Saint Rose of Lima, canonized in 1671, is the first saint of the Americas. She found her delight in God through her service of the poor.
As a result of this,
many of his disciples returned to their former way of life
and no longer accompanied him.
Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.
We have come to believe
and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.” (Jn 6:60-69)
We come to the conclusion of the great Bread of Life Discourse. Many disciples abandon Jesus, and when Jesus turns to the Twelve and asks if they want to leave him too, Simon Peter answers for all of us: “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
