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.
It happened that there was a man full of leprosy in one of the towns where Jesus was;
and when he saw Jesus,
he fell prostrate, pleaded with him, and said,
“Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”
Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said,
“I do will it. Be made clean.”
And the leprosy left him immediately.
(Lk 5:12-16)
Touching lepers got Jesus into trouble with everyone—not just with the Law of Moses and the religious authorities, but also with his own disciples. And now, two thousand years later, things haven’t changed one bit. Thanks to my mom, I celebrate a birthday today!
Beloved, we love God because
God first loved us.
If anyone says, “I love God,”
but hates his brother, he is a liar;
for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen
cannot love God whom he has not seen.
This is the commandment we have from him:
Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
(1 Jn 4:19-5:4)
They tell a story about old Saint John. Every liturgy he would get up and say to the people, “Little children, let us love one another!” and then he would sit down. After several weeks of this, the new deacon pulled old John aside and said, “Every week you tell us the same thing. When are you going to teach us something new?” Old John answered, “When you’ve done what I’ve asked you, I can teach you something new. 'Little children, let us love one another!'” After the troubling events yesterday on the Mall and in the Capitol of the United States, perhaps we need old Saint John's message more than ever: "Let us love one another!"
Beloved, if God so loved us,
we also must love one another.
. . . .
God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.
(1 Jn 4:11-18)
But when they saw him walking on the sea,
they thought it was a ghost and cried out.
They had all seen him and were terrified.
But at once he spoke with them,
“Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!”
(Mk 6:45-52)
The First Letter of John seems to repeat over and over again, “We must love one another.” And for good reason, sometimes we forget that it means nothing to say that “God loves us” if we don’t in turn love one another. And to terrified disciples in every age, the Lord simply reminds us, “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!”
Beloved, let us love one another,
because love is of God;
everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.
(1 Jn 4:7-10)
When Jesus saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them,
for they were like sheep without a shepherd;
and he began to teach them many things.
. . . . Those who ate of the loaves were five thousand.
(Mk 6:34-44)
The theme of “manifestation” continues with the Feeding of the 5,000 in Mark’s gospel which reveals the tenderness of the Lord, “his heart was moved with pity for them.” The First Letter of John speaks a lot about Love, and then reveals that Love does not consist in that we have loved God, but rather that God has loved us by sending us the Son. Today is the feast of Saint John Neumann, bishop of Philadelphia.
From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say,
"Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand."
He went around all of Galilee,
teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,
and curing every disease and illness among the people.
(Mt 4:12-17,23-25)
This week after Epiphany we are continuing the theme of the “manifestation” of Jesus in selections from the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke). Today is the beginning of Jesus’ proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom and of his healing ministry in Matthew’s gospel. In the United States today is the feast of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. Many years ago, my mother and I visited the Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. I celebrated Mass on the altar over the tomb of Saint Elizabeth Ann shown in the photo.
