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.
The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said,
‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ (Mt 11:16-19)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121021.cfm
The earliest memory the church has of the Eucharist is the eating and drinking with sinners. As Pope Francis reminds the church, the Eucharist is not the reward for good behavior, rather the Eucharist is medicine for the sick and the weak.
The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain,
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the LORD, will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. (Is 41:13-20)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120921.cfm
When God comes to the rescue of the afflicted and the needy, marvelous things happen—as in today’s feast of Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin. His name "Cuauhtlatoatzin" means "the one who speaks like an eagle." He received the visions of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the Tepeyac hill near the great city of Tenochtitlán (now Mexico City) beginning on December 9, 1531. After telling his story, more than 11 million indigenous people were baptized. He was canonized on July 31, 2002, the first indigenous saint of the Americas.
God chose us in Christ, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him.
In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will,
for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved. (Eph 1:3-6, 11-12)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120821.cfm
There is a divine purpose for each one of us. Today’s feast reminds us how that divine purpose was fulfilled in the life of the Virgin Mary, who was prepared from the first moment of her existence to become the mother of the Son of God.
Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. Here comes with power the Lord GOD,
who rules by his strong arm. Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs,
Carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care. (Is 40:1-11)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120721.cfm
A beautiful message from the Prophet Isaiah . . . the One whose coming we await brings comfort, carries the lambs, and leads the ewes with care. Today is the feast of Saint Ambrose who was bishop of Milan and who baptized Saint Augustine. Today is also the remembrance of the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
Say to those whose hearts are frightened:
Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication;
With divine recompense he comes to save you.
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared;
Then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing. (Is 35:1-10)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120621.cfm
Advent has a message for those who are frightened: Don’t be afraid, because God comes to save. Today is the feast of Saint Nicholas, who was a bishop of the early church and certainly not the “right jolly old elf,” of Clement Clarke Moore’s A Visit from Saint Nicholas (’Twas the Night before Christmas), https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43171/a-visit-from-st-nicholas. Saint Nicholas attended the First Ecumenical Council, the Council of Nicea in the year AD 325, and of course, is the patron saint of children.
