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.
R. Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart
for I am gracious and merciful.’
R. Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
(Joel 2:12-13)
Even now . . . which means, that there’s still time. It’s never too late.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
(Mt 6:7-15)
The prayer that Jesus gave us is full of lessons for us all. Not only do we ask for daily bread, we also ask for forgiveness, just as we forgive. And of course, that’s the kicker! To be forgiven, we must also forgive. As Jesus will point out to us: the measure with which you measure, will in turn be measured out to you. And so Lent calls us to be generous . . . generous in forgiving, generous in giving, generous in love.
Today would have been my mom’s 94th birthday. To everyone she was the “Night Nurse.” We were the best of buds. She made me the person I became. She taught me how to care for others. Thanks to her, I’m a priest today.
Hoy habría sido el cumpleaños número 94 de mi madre. Para todos, ella era la "Enfermera Nocturna". Éramos los mejores amigos. Ella me convirtió en la persona en la que me convertí. Ella me enseñó a cuidar a los demás. Gracias a ella, hoy soy sacerdote.
Jesus said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter said in reply,
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.
And so I say to you, you are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my Church,
and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.
Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
(Mt 16:13-19)
The liturgy is sometimes very funny. We celebrate the birthdays of churches, we can even celebrate the birthdays of chairs! Today, of course, is the feast of a very important chair, the chair of Saint Peter. And we celebrate our union in faith with the successor of Saint Peter, who sits on that chair today, Pope Francis.
God added:
“This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come,
of the covenant between me and you
and every living creature with you:
I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign
of the covenant between me and the earth.
When I bring clouds over the earth,
and the bow appears in the clouds,
I will recall the covenant I have made
between me and you and all living beings,
so that the waters shall never again become a flood
to destroy all mortal beings.”
(Gen 9:8-15)
Sometimes a rainbow is just a rainbow . . . but a rainbow is always a sign of God’s covenant with all creation.
