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, though many, are one Body in Christ and individually parts of one another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us exercise them: if prophecy, in proportion to the faith; if ministry, in ministering; if one is a teacher, in teaching; if one exhorts, in exhortation; if one contributes, in generosity; if one is over others, with diligence; if one does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. (Rom 12:5-16ab)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110425.cfm
We’re not used to thinking that being one Body in Christ, we are individually parts of one another. Paul calls us to put our gifts to the service of one another. Saint Charles (1538-1584) did just that. He was archbishop of Milan and after the Council of Trent he helped to reform the church by creating seminaries and the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD). Today’s photo is of his cathedral in Milan, Italy.
Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. (Lk 14:12-13)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110325.cfm
Saint Martin de Porres (1579-1639), illegitimate son of a Spaniard and a freed African slave, was not always welcomed at the table. Members of his religious community made fun of him for being illegitimate and descended from slaves and called him a “mulatto dog”. My mother worked as a nurse at Blessed Martin de Porres Hospital (a maternity hospital for Black women) in Mobile, Alabama. When Martin was canonized in 1962 by Pope John XXIII, “Blessed” was removed and “Saint” in new letters was added.
If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him. (Rom 6:3-9)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110224.cfm
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen. And may their souls, and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen. https://youtu.be/0_tghDWzPlc
After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God, and exclaimed: “Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen." (Rev 7:9-12)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110125.cfm
Today’s Feast of All Saints and tomorrow’s Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed form two moments of one feast—remembering and celebrating all the faithful ones who have gone before us and handed on the faith to us. As we say in the Apostles' Creed: "I believe in the communion of saints." Happy Feast Day to them and to all of us! May we follow them walking in the footsteps Jesus. https://youtu.be/UwE6HGXKxzg?si=6Fr_4ArWhPRmVHbf
For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh.They are children of Israel; theirs the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; theirs the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen. (Rom 9:1-5)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/103125.cfm
Paul’s appreciation of the faith of the Jewish people is reflected in the declaration of the Second Vatican Council, Nostra Aetate (1965): the church decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone. (Nostra Aetate, 4) Today’s photo is from our pilgrimage to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. Today’s psalm is a Blues Gospel version of Psalm 84, How Lovely is Your Dwelling Place. https://youtu.be/UP-qjywTeoI?si=xVk6SzB9Jk0CgGkc
