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 man then said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob said, “I will not let you go until you bless me.” (Gen 32:23-33)
At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd. (Mt 9:32-38)
Sometimes when we have struggled and yet perservered, we should not let the angel go until we have asked for a blessing. And the Lord will give us a blessing because he is the Good Shepherd, and we always have a place in his heart.
He called the site Bethel,
Jacob then made this vow:
“This stone that I have set up as a memorial stone shall be God’s abode.” (Gen 28:10-22a)
Bethel means “house of God.” My grandmother’s family members are buried at Bethel Cemetery in the Mount Olivet Community of Leavenworth County, Kansas. Today’s picture is of my grandmother and her brother visiting their graves in the Bethel Cemetery, "the house of God."
He was amazed at their lack of faith.
(Mk 6:1-6)
As our founding documents remind us, we are called to form a more perfect union (US Constitution, Preamble). What has always prevented us from realizing our more perfect union has been the lack of faith in the principles enunciated in the Declaration of Independence, whose signing we commemorate on the Fourth of July: “that all (men) are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” I remember Barbara Jordan’s famous intervention at the Watergate Hearings:
Earlier today, we heard the beginning of the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States: "We, the people." It's a very eloquent beginning. But when that document was completed on the seventeenth of September in 1787, I was not included in that "We, the people." I felt somehow for many years that George Washington and Alexander Hamilton just left me out by mistake. But through the process of amendment, interpretation, and court decision, I have finally been included in "We, the people."
Perhaps, we need to remember that the work of forming a more perfect union is never completely over. Just like for us Catholics who want to build Christian community . . . we may never fully arrive, but we keep striving to build a world of justice, where everyone can find a place at the table of the human family, and know their dignity as children of God.
You are fellow citizens with the holy ones
and members of the household of God,
built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets,
with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.
(Eph 2:19-22)
I remember that wonderful old hymn: How Firm a Foundation! Our firm foundation is the faith of the apostles, the faith of Peter and Paul, the faith of Thomas.
As Jesus passed by,
he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post.
He said to him, “Follow me.”
And he got up and followed him.
While he was at table in his house,
many tax collectors and sinners came
and sat with Jesus and his disciples.
The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples,
“Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
He heard this and said,
“Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.
Go and learn the meaning of the words,
I desire mercy, not sacrifice.
I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
(Mt 9:9-13)
The Call of Matthew reminds us of the teaching of Pope Francis: the Eucharist is not the reward for saints, but is the Bread of Sinners.