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.
Then the LORD asked Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” He answered, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Gen 4:1-15, 25)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021725.cfm
When we allow billionaires to shut down government feeding programs and assistance for the world’s poor, the Lord God just might have a few questions for all of us.
And raising his eyes toward his disciples Jesus said: Blessed are you who are poor . . . But woe to you who are rich. (Lk 6:17, 20-26)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021625.cfm
Some Catholics and others criticized Pope Francis for his recent letter to the United States bishops (read the pope’s letter: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/letters/2025/documents/20250210-lettera-vescovi-usa.html). Well, if they have a problem with Pope Francis, what are they going to do with Jesus? Our Jesus is much more radical and asks much more of us than we have ever imagined.
The man called his wife Eve, because she became the mother of all the living. (Gen 3:9-24)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021525.cfm
There was an old song about the Sunday School: “Adam was the first man, Eve was his wife. They lived in a garden and things were pretty nice. Eve ate the apple, and Adam did the same. Got kicked outta the garden, and they started raising Cain!” The ancient Fathers and Mothers of the church always pointed out the connection between the woman’s name Eve (Eva in Latin) with the first words of the Angel to Mary, Ave (Hail).
Alleluia (Acts 16:14b)
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Open our hearts, O Lord, to listen to the words of your Son.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021425.cfm
We celebrate today the brothers Cyril (827-869) and Methodius (815-885) who evangelized the Slavic peoples. But today is also the feast of Saint Valentine. May the words of Christ penetrate our hearts so that we may live as He taught us.
The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, "Let the children be fed first. For it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs." She replied and said to him, "Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children's scraps." Then he said to her, "For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter." When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed and the demon gone. (Mk 7:24-30)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021325.cfm
What sounds like Jesus being really nasty to a foreign woman gives rise to one of the most beautiful communion prayers ever, the Prayer of Humble Access which says: “We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table.”
