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.
Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying: “I pray not only for these, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.” (Jn 17:20-26)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060222.cfm
The High Priestly Prayer of Jesus concludes today with the Lord continuing to pray that we may be one so that the world may believe that he was sent by God. How important is Christian Unity—Christian Unity is not just a nice idea, it is essential if the world is to believe. Today’s photo is of Pope Francis and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew praying together at the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, May 25, 2014, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the signing of the joint declaration by Pope Paul VI and the Patriarch Athenagoras (1964) committing the Catholic and Orthodox Churches to work for full sacramental unity in obedience to command of Jesus Christ that his "disciples may be one."
Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed, saying: “Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one.” (Jn 17:11b-19)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060122.cfm
The sad divisions in Christianity are not what the Lord wants for us: “that they may be one just as we are one.” But we have been divided from the very beginning. Perhaps, one day, we will hear the Lord praying for us to be one, be rightfully ashamed of ourselves, do the hard work of reconciliation, and embrace one another as members of one family. Justin Martyr was an apologist of the early church. He was martyred in the year 165.
And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior . . . From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name ” (Lk 1:39-56)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/053122.cfm
The Visitation to Elizabeth help us to understand the great plan of Salvation: God comes to rescue the poor and the lowly. And as Elizabeth says, “Who am I, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” The church rightly calls Mary, “Theotokos” (God-bearer), in Latin “Mater Dei” (Mother of God). The Western Church prays: “Pray for us O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.” The Eastern Church prays: “Remembering our most holy, pure, blessed, and glorious Lady, the Theotokos and ever virgin Mary, with all the saints, let us commit ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God.”
The disciples said to Jesus, “We believe that you came from God.” Jesus answered them, “Do you believe now? Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived when each of you will be scattered to his own home and you will leave me alone. But I am not alone, because the Father is with me. I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.” (Jn 16:29-33)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/053022.cfm
To have peace in Christ doesn’t mean that we will have peace in the world, just the opposite. But let’s hope that troubles come for doing something good like feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, advocating for prisoners and the sick, protecting children, and standing against gun violence. As Pope Francis said to the young people of Latin America in 2013: “Make trouble! (Hagan Lío)” What he meant of course is don’t be indifferent before injustice and before the many problems facing this world. Like John Lewis used to challenge people: Make “good trouble.”
While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.” (Acts 1:1-11)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052922-ascension.cfm
Looking up in the sky isn’t wrong—but we’ve been goofing off long enough. The Lord’s given us a mission. It’s time to get moving!
