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 woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, "Let the children be fed first. For it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs." She replied and said to him, "Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children's scraps." Then he said to her, "For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter." When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed and the demon gone. (Mk 7:24-30)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021325.cfm
What sounds like Jesus being really nasty to a foreign woman gives rise to one of the most beautiful communion prayers ever, the Prayer of Humble Access which says: “We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table.”
The LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being. (Gen 2:4b-9, 15-17)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021225.cfm
The second creation story doesn’t beat around the bush . . . it gets right down to business with the creation of man (and eventually woman). The image of God blowing into our nostrils the breath of life is repeated in the Fourth Gospel when the Risen Lord breathes on the disciples the breath of the Holy Spirit.
Evening came, and morning followed–the fifth day. (Gen 1:20-2:4a)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021125.cfm
Today we come to the conclusion of the First Story of Creation in the Book of Genesis. The formula that concludes each section, “Evening came, and morning followed,” may seem strange to us, but that the day begins at sundown makes perfect sense to a culture that follows a lunar calendar. It also explains why the Liturgy begins Sunday and special feast days with First Vespers at sundown the day before. It’s fairly obvious that this First Story of Creation is the work of a priestly imagination. God neatly wraps up the work of creation in 6 days and then rests on the 7th day (the sabbath)—just like we’re supposed to do!
In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw how good the light was. (Gen 1:1-19)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021025.cfm
The story of creation speaks of how good it is. That original goodness comes first and should never be forgotten. Saint Scholastica is the twin sister of Saint Benedict. Together they are considered the founders of Western monasticism.
Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me. For I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective. Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them; not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me. Therefore, whether it be I or they, so we preach and so you believed. (1 Cor 15:1-11)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020925.cfm
All the readings this Sunday speak of the Call: the Prophet Isaiah, the Apostle Paul, the first disciples, Peter, James and John. Paul says that he toiled harder than all of the rest, but generously acknowledges, it is God’s grace that accomplishes the work. This is the link to the joint statement of the North Carolina Catholic bishops about immigration: https://charlottediocese.org/communications/nc-catholic-bishops-issue-joint-statement/.
