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.
This greeting is in my own hand, Paul’s. This is the sign in every letter; this is how I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you. (2 Thes 3:17-18)
Paul didn’t want to have more problems with fake letters allegedly from him . . . so after the scribe who had been furiously trying to write down everything that the apostle dictated, Paul signs the letter in his own hand. I wonder how much that autograph would be worth today?
We ask you, brothers and sisters, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling with him, not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly, or to be alarmed either by a “spirit,” or by an oral statement, or by a letter allegedly from us to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand. Let no one deceive you in any way. (2 Thes 2:1-3)
Poor Saint Paul . . . he had to put up with all sorts of troubles: persecutions, beatings, imprisonment, shipwrecks . . . and even worse, other Christians writing fake letters in his name. And for what purpose? To scare people about the end of the world! Well, that kind of silliness still goes on today, two thousand years later. And what does Saint Paul tell us? The same advice he gave to the little community at Thessaloniki: “Hold fast to the traditions that you were taught.”
The angel spoke to me, saying, “Come here. I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” He took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God . . . . There were three gates facing east, three north, three south, and three west. The wall of the city had twelve courses of stones as its foundation, on which were inscribed the twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb. (Rev 21:9b-14)
Today is the feast of Saint Bartholomew with the reference to the "beautiful city"--the Heavenly Jerusalem. I remember the Dedication of the New Altar and the Renovated Chapel of Our Lady of Fatima in Winston-Salem, NC, now almost 40 years ago. For the Dedication Mass with the Bishop, I requested that our cantor, Joanne Munden, sing the spiritual, Oh What a Beautiful City! The version today is from the great singer, Paul Robeson.
And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. (Mt 16:18-19)
Saint Peter is the hope for many of us, because if he can make it, perhaps we will to! In the gospels, Peter usually gets things wrong or misunderstands, but every so often he gets it right, as in today’s gospel. Cue the Rocky music!
And I saw that the temple was filled with the glory of the LORD. . . . . Then a voice said to me: Son of man, this is where my throne shall be, this is where I will set the soles of my feet; here I will dwell among the children of Israel forever. (Ezekiel 43:5-7)
The summer of the prophets comes to a close with this final reading from the Prophet Ezekiel, the vision of the Glory of the Lord in the temple. But which temple, the physical temple in ruins, or the temple which is God’s people?
Today is the Octave of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We celebrate Mary receiving the Crown of Life from her Son. As my young Jesuit friend said so eloquently:
"Every teaching of the Church about Mary is a teaching about us as Christians as well. At her conception, she received the same grace that we all do at our baptism. At the end of her life she was raised just as Jesus, and just as we all shall be."
And today’s feast is no exception . . . the Crown of Life awaits each one of us.
