Welcome
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.
VII Sunday, Ordinary Time
Brothers and sisters: Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (1 Cor 3:16-23)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021923.cfm
Sometimes we forget that the early church did not have buildings . . . we met in one another’s homes. So when Saint Paul says to the Corinthians ´You are the temple of God´ he was actually talking seriously and joking at the same time. While the ancient city of Corinth had a magnificent temple of the god Apollo, the tiny Christian community had to gather at home, but as the Apostle tells them, ´the Spirit of God dwells in you.´
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Saturday of the Blessed Virgin Mary, February 18
Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. By faith Noah, warned about what was not yet seen, with reverence built an ark for the salvation of his household. Through this, he condemned the world and inherited the righteousness that comes through faith. (Heb 11:1-7)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021823.cfm
This selection from the praise of the ancestors in the faith ends with the praise of Noah and the building of the Ark. Faith is not so much about propositions to be believed, but rather faith is centered on actions. Like Noah, we are called to action. As the Mother of Jesus reminds the waiters at the Wedding Feast of Cana: “Do whatever my Son tells you to do.”
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Friday, Week VI, Ordinary Time
Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky, and so make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered all over the earth." Then the LORD said: Let us then go down and there confuse their language, so that one will not understand what another says." 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. (Gen 11:1-9)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021723.cfm
The story of the Tower of Babel is not an invective against urbanism . . . rather it is a story about those who want to make a name for themselves rather than accepting the name God has given them, “My people.”
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Thursday, Week VI, Ordinary Time
God said to Noah and to his sons with him: “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)
Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days. (Mk 8:27-33)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021623.cfm
A friend once commented, “Sometimes a rainbow is just a rainbow” . . . but then at other times a rainbow is so much more. The sign of the covenant: the Cross and the Rainbow.
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Wednesday, Week VI, Ordinary Time
The LORD said to himself, “Never again will I doom the earth because of man since the desires of man’s heart are evil from the start; nor will I ever again strike down all living beings, as I have done. As long as the earth lasts, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, Summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” (Gen 8:6-13, 20-22)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021523.cfm
The Lord’s covenant with creation is a poetic promise of salvation. Unfortunately, the human race seems bent on destroying the very home where we live. Maybe we need to re-read and appreciate the promise of Genesis and God’s covenant love.
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Saint Cyril, monk, & Saint Methodius, bishop (Saint Valentine, presbyter & martyr), February 14
The LORD said to Noah: "Go into the ark, you and all your household, for you alone in this age have I found to be truly just. Of the animals, take with you one pair,
a male and its mate . . . Thus you will keep their issue alive over all the earth. Noah did just as the LORD had commanded him. As soon as the seven days were over,
the waters of the flood came upon the earth. (Gen 6:5-8’7:1-5, 10)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021423.cfm
The marvelous story of Noah and the Ark and all the animals has fascinated the church in every age. Of course, the story is one of salvation. In the liturgical calendar the feast of Saints Cyril (826-869) and Methodius (815-885) outranks poor Saint Valentine (226-269), but popular devotion keeps Saint Valentine’s Day notwithstanding.
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Monday, Week VI, Ordinary Time
The LORD asked Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” He answered, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” The LORD then said: “What have you done! Listen: your brother’s blood cries out to me from the soil!" (Gen 4:1-15, 25)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021323.cfm
In October, 1996, I attended the display of the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt on the Mall in Washington, DC. While there I visited the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. In the Hall of Remembrance (the Chapel) of the Museum, I noticed the Genesis quote engraved on the wall: “What have you done? Hark thy brother’s blood cries out to me for the ground.” i remember looking through the window and seeing the Quilt displayed and saying to myself, “My brother is lying out there on the Mall.” Do we hear our brother, our sister, crying out to us? Or are we like Cain who says, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
