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.
Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son." Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. (Jn 19:25-27)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091523.cfm
The Octave of the Feast of the Birth of Mary is this feast of the Sorrowful Mother which is linked to yesterday’s feast of the Holy Cross. The church has always seen the Beloved Disciple as standing in for all of us, the beloved disciples of the Lord.
At the cross her station keeping,
Stood the mournful Mother weeping,
Close to Jesus to the last. (from the sequence hymn, Stabat Mater)
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. (Jn 3:13-17)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091423.cfm
If God has loved the world and everyone in it, then perhaps we should too. The Son came not to condemn but to save. In most of Latin America this feast is celebrated on May 3.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you
because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours. (Lk 6:20-26)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091323.cfm
Saint John Chrysostom was archbishop of Constantinople. The emperor and his wife were in his parish. The empress and her friends wanted to gussy up the church with silk vestments and golden chalices to which John Chrysostom replied, “Give God the honor prescribed in God’s law by giving your riches to the poor. For God does not want golden vessels but golden hearts.” The empress got him exiled. Today’s picture is of Hagia Sophia, the cathedral of Saint John Chrysostom. Today’s hymn is from the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom.
As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him, rooted in him and built upon him and established in the faith as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one captivate you with an empty, seductive philosophy according to the tradition of men, according to the elemental powers of the world and not according to Christ. (Col 2:6-15)
When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called a Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. (Lk 6:12-19)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091223.cfm
There have always been those who want to divide the church, which is why we get this warning from the Letter to the Colossians to stay rooted in Christ. In the gospel Jesus gives us a sure foundation as he names his Apostles, of whom Simon Peter is the first. The church would do well to stick with the successor of Saint Peter. The celebration of the Most Holy Name of Mary reminds us that the Lord calls each one of us by name.
Brothers and sisters: I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his Body, which is the Church. (Col 1:24-2:3)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091123.cfm
There is a mystery to human suffering which we may never fully understand. But when we are able to join our suffering to the Sufferings of Christ for the sake of our brothers and sisters, then our suffering takes on a divine dimension and offers us a unique communion with Christ. Some of us remember where we were when we heard of the attacks of September 11. I was on retreat at my seminary. While the events were still unfolding we gathered in the Seminary Chapel and celebrated Mass and prayed for peace.
