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.
I became a minister (servant) by the gift of God’s grace. (Eph 3:2-12)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102324.cfm
It’s always good to check several Bible translations in order to get a better sense of what the underlying Greek text is actually saying. The word “minister” is not the word used in Greek. Rather the word is diakonos (servant). When he recently named new cardinals for the church, Pope Francis suggested that the cardinals should forgo the ancient honorific, EMINENCE, and use instead the more humble title “Servant” or “Deacon.” It remains to be seen if any of the cardinals, new or old, will accept this change. Cardinals generally like to think of themselves as the “princes” of the church rather than as “servants.” Today's photo is of the ordination of deacons at Saint Meinrad Archabbey Church, Indiana, on March 26, 1977.
Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants.” (Lk 12:35-38)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102224.cfm
There used to be a t-shirt that said, “Jesus is coming again. Look busy!” To stay watchful and vigilant means we should prepare for his coming by caring for the most needy among us. Because what we do for them, we do for him. Mom and I visited Rome in January 1989. During that visit, Pope John Paul II had the privilege of meeting my mom twice!
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so no one may boast. For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them. (Eph 2:1-10)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102124.cfm
The gift of God . . . we are God’s work of art. What a dignity we have in Christ Jesus. Mother Laura (1874-1949) is the first canonized saint from Colombia. She founded a religious community of women missionaries dedicated to the indigenous and the marginalized. She worked to overcome racial discrimination. Mother Laura was canonized May 12, 2013, by Pope Francis. Her tomb and shrine are in Medellín, Colombia.
For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mk 10:35-45)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102024.cfm
To be somebody, to have some thing, to get some where—are very human desires. As James and John ask for the seats of power at the right and left hand of the Lord, Jesus asks them if they can drink the cup he will drink and be baptized with the baptism he will receive. And glibly they answer, “We can!” But of course, the cup he drinks is the cup of suffering. The baptism he receives is soldiers’ spit. Jesus invites us to embrace the values of the Kingdom, to follow in his footsteps, to serve as he served us all.
Jesus said to his disciples: “I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God.” (Lk 12:8-12)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101924.cfm
The story of the North American missionary martyrs reminds us of the cost of discipleship. But the Lord promises that he will not forget what we have endured for his Name, but that he will remember us and and in turn will acknowledge us before the angels of God.
