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 85)
R. The Lord speaks of peace to his people.
Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven.
R. The Lord speaks of peace to his people.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/070624.cfm
When God speaks of peace, the Lord always includes justice. As Pope Saint Paul VI reminds the world, "If you want Peace, work for Justice" (Message for World Peace Day, 1 January 1972). https://youtu.be/o6FaYpFcTWE?si=uwRhsyynMTBJ3oLR
Dear Friends,
I will be leading a pilgrimage to the shrines of France May 19-31 with Proximo Travel (https://www.proximotravel.com/trip-store/?action=view_trip&triptemplateid=929). Before the pilgrimage, I will visit Denmark and Norway and retrace the steps of my Torp ancestors. Our pilgrimage in France will culminate in Lourdes. After the pilgrimage in France, I will visit some of the shrines of Spain, and then will head to Asheville, NC, and will help out in Saint Eugene Parish. I will return to Colombia on July 6. As a consequence, the Daily Reflection will be on break starting TODAY and will return in July. In the meantime I will be posting some reflections and pictures from my travels and from the pilgrimage as time permits. I will be remembering you, your loved ones, and all our beloved sick in my Masses and prayers.
With lots of blessings!
el padre
Jesus said: "I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (Jn 10:11-18)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/042124.cfm
Here in the 21st century most of us live in bustling cities. We don't know much about shepherds and sheep. But when Jesus says, “A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep,” we somehow know that the real world doesn’t work that way. If the shepherd dies, the sheep will be at the mercy of the wolves. In the financial world, if you lose a few sheep, you just cut your losses. But in God’s world, Jesus lays down his life for us. As the old songs taught us, all of us “are precious in his sight” and he is precious in ours.
As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer walked with 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)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/042024.cfm
The Bread of Life Discourse proves too much for many of the disciples and they leave. But Peter speaks for all of us: "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Together with Peter and the others, we continue in prayer with the Mother of Jesus.
But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go, for this man is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before Gentiles, kings, and children of Israel, and I will show him what he will have to suffer for my name." (Acts 9:1-9)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041924.cfm
Today we have the first of three accounts in the Acts of the Apostles of what happened to Saul (Paul): See Acts 22:3-16 and Acts 26:2-18. But the Apostle Paul himself never mentions any of this. Paul only says, “I have seen the Lord” (1 Corinthians 9:1 and Galatians 1:11-23). The imaginative accounts in Acts were written 30 years after Paul’s death.
