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.
We give thanks to God always for all of you, remembering you in our prayers, unceasingly calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father, knowing, brothers and sisters loved by God, how you were chosen. (1 Thes 1:1-5, 8b-10)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/082525.cfm
Sometimes we forget that we are chosen by God in Christ, that God has called us by name. We have been called to the “work of faith, the labor of love and endurance in hope.” That is our dignity, that is our mission and our call.
I come to gather nations of every language; they shall come and see my glory. Some of these I will take as priests and Levites, says the LORD. (Is 66: 18-21)
People will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the kingdom of God. (Lk 13:22-30)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/082425.cfm
I just returned from an extended trip to the Balkans and Istanbul, Turkey. It’s a privilege to be able to travel. But to be honest, traveling is in our genes. We human beings never stay put. Humanity has been on the move ever since we took that first step out of Africa. My own journey began when my ancestors left the threat of war in Europe and traveled to the New World in the 1800’s. Scripture tells us that God’s glory is revealed in all the nations of every language, and from these God chooses priests and levites. Makes sense to me. https://youtu.be/Y3nSbrMluEQ?si=IbNlZZXy2Cxy2wZB
And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. (Lk 11:1-13)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072725.cfm
The teaching on prayer from Luke’s gospel is centered on the Lord’s Prayer. Like the first disciples, we too ask the Lord to “teach us to pray.” The Lord teaches us to pray to the Father, who gives good gifts. I will be traveling in the Balkans for most of the month of August: Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Turkey. We will also visit Medjugorje. Starting today, the Daily Reflection and the Orchid Ministry will be on break until the end of August. I will carry all of you in my prayers.
Moses took half of the blood and put it in large bowls; the other half he splashed on the altar. Taking the book of the covenant, he read it aloud to the people, who answered, “All that the LORD has said, we will heed and do.” Then he took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words of his.” (Ex 24:3-8)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072625.cfm
Jesus offers us the New Covenant in his blood. As Saint Paul reminds us, each time we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Today we honor the grandparents of the Lord. https://youtube.com/shorts/bRpnepwI2hs?si=_Z3hUlkBU-LWQJbd
We hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body. (2 Cor 4:7-15)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072525.cfm
Treasure in earthen vessels. Paul’s description of the challenges of ministry should be required reading in seminaries. The famous Camino is the pilgrimage to the Shrine of Saint James in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. https://youtu.be/rsrqkYQvpr4?si=TbwIXaJ5kBGNkpDB Every visit to Santiago reminds me that the Lord always gives us good companions to share the journey. https://youtu.be/IAZhIw49ULc?si=G0omGoPjEOACszTY
