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.
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all and in all. (Col 3:1-5, 9-11)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/073122.cfm
So many riches for us today in the readings: Qoheleth declaring that “all things are vanity” . . . the Psalmist observing that for the Lord a “thousand years are as yesterday, now that it is past, or as a watch of the night” . . . the Letter to the Colossians reminding us that all things are changed because our life is now "hidden with Christ in God" . . . or Jesus telling us to become "rich in what matters to God" As the liturgy reminds us, “if today you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts.” Today is also the feast of Saint Ignatius Loyola and the close of the Ignatian Year celebrating the 400th anniversary of the canonizations of Saint Ignatius and Saint Francis Xavier.
Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 69)
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
“See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.”
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/073022.cfm
The perils of the prophet Jeremiah, the tragic imprisonment and death of John the Baptist—as the Psalmist says, the Lord hears the poor and never spurns those in bonds. The Virgin Mary calls us all to magnify the Lord with her. And so we call out in faith: Lord, in your great love, answer me.
Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother [Lazarus, who had died]. (Jn 11:19-27)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072922.cfm
The home at Bethany was dear to the heart of Jesus. Martha, Mary and Lazarus were the Lord’s closest friends. And so the sisters send word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is ill.” Perhaps, it is Lazarus who is the Beloved Disciple. The Good News is that we are all invited into friendship with Jesus, to be the Beloved Disciple. The home at Bethany is our home.
Then the word of the LORD came to me: Can I not do to you, house of Israel, as this potter has done? says the LORD. Indeed, like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, house of Israel. (Jer 18:1-6)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072822.cfm
The Potter’s House is a beautiful image of God’s patient, merciful love, forming and re-forming. So we are the clay in God’s hands.
Jesus said to his disciples: Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it." (Mt 13:44-46)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072722.cfm
The Pearl of Great Price is a very short parable that is exceedingly difficult to understand. If the merchant sells “all that he has” in order to buy that valuable pearl . . . where will he live or how will he eat? In his desire to possess the pearl the merchant loses all reason. And as Jeremiah, the prophet, says to the Lord: “You have indeed become for me a treacherous brook.”
