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.
The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said, 'Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.' (Lk 7:31-37)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092023.cfm
This is one of the oldest charges against Jesus made by good religious folks attacking the Lord’s table ministry. Of course, there are church folks who still attack that table ministry and want to prevent the “tax collectors and sinners” from getting too close. Perhaps we all should remember that it’s not OUR table, it’s not OUR invitation. It’s the Table of the Lord, and it’s the Lord who does the inviting. We celebrate today the first martyrs of Korea (1791-1888).
Beloved, this saying is trustworthy: whoever aspires to the office of bishop desires a noble task. Therefore, a bishop must be irreproachable, married only once, temperate, self-controlled, decent, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not aggressive, but gentle, not contentious, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, keeping his children under control with perfect dignity; for if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how can he take care of the Church of God? (1 Tim 3:1-13)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/tuesday-twenty-fourth-week-ordinary-time
The requirements for bishops and deacons assumes that they would be married and have families. Being able to manage one’s household prepares one to care for the church. Perhaps we need to recover that key insight. Today's picture is of my ordination as a deacon at Saint Meinrad Abbey Church in 1977 with Archbishop George Biskup of Indianapolis.
When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and save the life of his slave. They approached Jesus and strongly urged him to come, saying, "He deserves to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation and he built the synagogue for us." And Jesus went with them, but when he was only a short distance from the house, the centurion sent friends to tell him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof. (Lk 7:1-10)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091823.cfm
The Healing of the Centurion’s Servant is a fascinating story. The English translation is wrong: the servant wasn’t “valuable to him”; the servant was very dear to him (as the Spanish translation clearly states: “un criado muy querido.” Roman centurions were not in the habit of building Jewish synagogues. So when the elders state that the centurion is “worthy” to have this favor done, Jesus is curious. Then suddenly the centurion sends the message, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof.” To which Jesus responds “I haven’t found faith like this in all of Israel.” Even though the centurion never actually meets Jesus, the servant is healed. And the church in its wisdom puts the words of the centurion on our lips before we receive Communion.
Brothers and sisters: None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself. For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. For this is why Christ died and came to life, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091723.cfm
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
--Invictus, William Ernest Henley, 1875
But we are not our own no matter how much we might think that we are the masters of our fate or that we are the captains of our soul. As Saint Paul reminds us, we are the Lord’s.
Beloved: This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance:
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of these I am the foremost. (1 Tim 1:15-17)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091623.cfm
Although the Letters to Timothy are not directly from Saint Paul, they are written in his name. Today’s passage is one of my favorites. Not one of us can be the greatest sinner in the world—that honor has already been claimed for Saint Paul. Kinda lets the rest of us off the hook. Cyprian and Cornelius believed in God’s mercy, for which they faced many challenges in their ministries in Carthage and in Rome; they share the martyr’s crown together.
