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.
Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two. So they went off and preached repentance. The Twelve drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them. (Mk 6:7-13)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020322.cfm
Healing the sick is a part of the apostolic mission as Jesus sends out the Twelve. Today is the Feast of Saint Blase with the custom of the Blessing of Throats. Two crossed candles are used for the blessing.
“Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.” (Luke 2:22-40)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020222.cfm
The Canticle of Simeon (Nunc dimittis) is the gospel canticle for Night Prayer (Compline). I have sung it at funerals, especially at the graveside. The Feast of the Presentation (Candlemas) marks the 40th day of Christmas. In the ancient basilicas in Rome, the Nativity Scene stays up until this feast. The blessing of candles and the procession that are a part of this feast have always been important in my journey of faith. I was received into the Catholic Church on February 2, 1970, at the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mobile, Alabama.
King David was shaken, and went up to the room over the city gate to weep. He said as he wept, “My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you, Absalom, my son, my son!” (2 Sam 18:9-10, 14b, 24-25a, 30-19:3).
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020122.cfm
The death of Absalom pierces David’s heart. His anguished lament is the cry of every parent who has lost a child. Today is the feast of Saint Bridget, one of the three patron saints of Ireland.
As they approached Jesus, they caught sight of the man who had been possessed by Legion, sitting there clothed and in his right mind. And they were seized with fear. Those who witnessed the incident explained to them what had happened to the possessed man and to the swine. Then they began to beg him to leave their district. (Mk 5:1-20)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/013122.cfm
“Please, Mr. Jesus, go somewhere else!” As long as the poor man was suffering, “crying out and bruising himself with stones,” folks were fine, but with the crazy man fully clothed and in his right mind, the people become afraid and ask Jesus to please just go. Saint John Bosco (1815-1888) founded the Salesians to work for the education of youth.
Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. (1 Cor 12:31-13:13)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/013022.cfm
The readings for this Sunday are challenging: the call of the prophet Jeremiah to proclaim a word that will be rejected by kings, priests, and people; Jesus preaching about the faith of foreigners and angering the hometown folks in the process so that they want to kill him. Perhaps Saint Paul’s hymn to Love may seem to be a bit out of place. But when we look at the Cross of the Lord we begin to understand what it means to “strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.” And as Saint Paul points out: “So faith, hope, love remain, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.”
