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.
“And I tell you, ask and you will receive;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives;
and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
(Lk 11:9-10)
Ask, seek, knock . . . receive, find, enter. Of course, we want to be as generous to others as God is with us.
The picture today is of the labyrinth in the Cathedral of Chartres, France.
And when Cephas came to Antioch,
I opposed him to his face because he clearly was wrong.
For, until some people came from James,
he used to eat with the Gentiles;
but when they came, he began to draw back and separated himself,
because he was afraid of the circumcised.
. . . .
I said to Cephas in front of all,
“If you, though a Jew,
are living like a Gentile and not like a Jew,
how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
(Gal 2:11-12,14)
Wow—Church fight!!! What a scene . . . Paul taking Peter down a peg or two. And again, people from James are at the bottom of it. What was it all about? It had to deal with the kosher laws and about sharing with the Gentiles. Peter was fine with Paul’s work with the Gentiles . . . until spies from James showed up. Paul had no problem in calling out hypocrisy . . . and correcting Peter.
The photo today is Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá, the national patron of Colombia.
And I was unknown personally to the churches of Judea
that are in Christ;
they only kept hearing that “the one who once was persecuting us
is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”
So they glorified God because of me.
(Gal 1:22-24)
Jesus entered a village
where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.
She had a sister named Mary
who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.
(Lk 10:38-39)
Wonderful readings today: Paul speaking about his story and the revelation he received, and then the story of the Lord’s visit with the two sisters, Martha & Mary. When the Lord comes into our lives, everything changes!
But there are some who are disturbing you
and wish to pervert the Gospel of Christ.
But even if we or an angel from heaven
should preach to you a gospel
other than the one that we preached to you,
let that one be accursed!
(Gal 1:7-8)
Who were these “disturbers” who were preaching a different gospel to the Galatians? Apparently, they were spies sent by James and the Jerusalem community to disrupt the work of Paul among the gentiles. Unfortunately, Paul’s somewhat harsh phrase, “let that one be accursed!” (literally, “let them be damned!”) slips into church-speak as “anathema sit.” “Anathema sit” was a common feature of almost every council of the church in its history. The truly remarkable thing is that the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) published all of its documents, and there was not one “anathema sit.”
The picture today is of the bishops of the Second Vatican Council gathered in the Basilica of Saint Peter.
Brothers and sisters:
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
make your requests known to God.
Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
(Phil 4:6-7)
One of the great privileges of being a priest is giving blessings. I believe that we should bless each other often, invoking God’s name over one another. One of my favorite “benedictions” is taken from this passage from Saint Paul’s letter to the Philippians:
May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and of God’s Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
R. Amen.
And may the blessing of almighty God, the Father, and the Son, + and the Holy Spirit, descend upon you and remain with you for ever.
R. Amen.
The picture today is the tomb of Saint Francis of Assisi. Today is his feast day. Pax et bonum!
