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 in one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit. Now you are Christ's Body, and individually parts of it. (1 Cor 12:12-14, 27-31a)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091724.cfm
Baptism doesn’t erase our differences, rather it makes us one in the One Body of Christ because we share the one Spirit. Saint Hildegard (1098-1179) was filled with the Light of the Holy Spirit and fostered a practical spirituality. Attached is a YouTube link to a very short BBC production entitled Hildegard of Bingen starring Patricia Routledge. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlziyM3xWWs
For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, "This is my Body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my Blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. (1 Cor 11:17-26, 33)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091624.cfm
Like the martyrs Saints Cornelius and Cyprian, we remain faithful to the Breaking of the Bread and the proclamation of the death of the Lord until he comes. Today’s photo is of Fr Cyprian Davis, OSB (1930-2015). Father Cyp, as we called him, was professor of church history at Saint Meinrad Seminary. HIs ground breaking work, The History of Black Catholics in the United States, seeks “to highlight what has been hidden, and to retrieve a mislaid memory.”
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well, " but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it? So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (Jas 2:14-18)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091524.cfm
The Letter of James says it like it is—we have to put faith in action, otherwise it’s good for nothing. As Jesus taught us, “Love God, love neighbor.” Today’s photo is of my young Jesuit friend, Chris Smith. And what follows is his article about the squad of holy women who nurtured his faith.
https://thejesuitpost.org/2021/07/the-holy-squad-of-women-who-nurtured-my-faith/https://thejesuitpost.org/2021/07/the-holy-squad-of-women-who-nurtured-my-faith/
Christ Jesus humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:6-11)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091424.cfm
Today’s feast comes from the anniversary of the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem that preserves the sites of Golgotha and the Empty Tomb. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, for by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
If I preach the Gospel, this is no reason for me to boast, for an obligation has been imposed on me, and woe to me if I do not preach it! (! Cor 9:16-19, 22b-27)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091324.cfm
Saint John Chrysostom was archbishop of Constantinople and one of the greatest preachers of the church. 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. Saint John Chrysostom gave the following sermon: “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 church of Saint John Chrysostom. Today’s hymn is from the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom.
