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.
But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus said to him, “‘If you can!’ Everything is possible to one who has faith.” Then the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe, help my unbelief!” (Mk 9:14-29)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022425.cfm
Sometimes when everything seems hopeless, we cry out in desperation like the father of the little boy in the gospel story. And the Lord always helps us. We continue to pray for Pope Francis and his ministry in the church. Today’s picture was taken at the canonization of Mother Teresa in 2016 when Pope Francis passed in front of us.
Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. (Lk 6:27-38)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022325.cfm
Judging, condemning—they’re our favorite pastimes. The Lord knows us oh too well. We’re usually pretty stingy when it comes to mercy and forgiveness. Perhaps that’s why he added: For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.
Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 23)
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
Only goodness and kindness follow me all the days of my life; And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for years to come.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022225.cfm
There used to be two feasts of the Chair of Peter, the chair at Antioch, the other the chair at Rome. They have been combined into one feast celebrating Peter’s apostolic authority. Today would have been my mom’s 98th birthday. One of her joys in life was to visit the tomb of Saint Peter in the Scavi (the excavations) underneath Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. During that visit to Rome, she also met Pope John Paul II twice, once at the general audience and a week later at the Mass on the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul.
Thus the LORD scattered them from there all over the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the speech of all the world. It was from that place that he scattered them all over the earth. (Gen 11:1-9)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022125.cfm
The story of the Tower of Babel finds its reversal on the Day of Pentecost in the Acts of the Apostles when everyone can hear the gospel in their own language. I remember when I was in seminary and driving to a neighboring town there was a billboard advertising the German-American National Bank: Wir sprechen Ihre Sprache (We speak your language). Speaking the language of the people is not only good business, it’s also good evangelization!
God added: “This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come, of the covenant between me and you and every living creature with you: I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” (Gen 9:1-13)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022025.cfm
As a friend once said, “Sometimes a rainbow is just a rainbow . . . but other times a rainbow is so much more.” Today’s rainbow is God’s bow over Medellín, Colombia.
