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.

Friday, 23 February 2024 00:00

Friday, Week I, Lent

Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. (Mt 5:20-26)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022324.cfm
This little verse from the Sermon on the Mount trips up all of us. Surely, the Lord doesn’t mean this, does He? But of course the Lord means exactly this—mercy before worship. This verse is also the origin of the Sign of Peace in the Eucharist.

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Thursday, 22 February 2024 00:00

Chair of Saint Peter, February 22

And when the chief Shepherd is revealed, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. (1 Pt 5:1-4)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022224.cfm
The wonderful part of being Catholic is we get to celebrate birthdays . . . not just of people and saints, but we also celebrate birthdays of churches and chairs! Today, of course, would have been my mom’s 97th birthday. Being a nurse, my mom taught me to care for others. It is because of her that I became a priest. I share with you one of my favorite pictures of my mom, NORMA TORP BOYD (1927-1996), taken before I was born, when she was a young nurse at City Hospital, Mobile, Alabama.

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Wednesday, 21 February 2024 00:00

Wednesday, Week I, Lent

Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 51)
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
For you are not pleased with sacrifices; should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit; a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022124.cfm
Psalm 51 is one of the seven penitential psalms (Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143). The penitential psalms proclaim that God is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger, and rich in kindness. As Psalm 51 joyfully proclaims, “a humbled, contrite heart, O God, you will not spurn.”

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Tuesday, 20 February 2024 00:00

Tuesday, Week I, Lent

“If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.” (Mt 6:7-15)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022024.cfm
Forgiveness is the hardest lesson to learn—it will take us the rest of Lent to learn the depth of the forgiveness we’ve already received.

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Monday, 19 February 2024 06:15

Monday, Week I, Lent

He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ (Mt 25:31-46)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021924.cfm
Who are these “least ones” we hear about in the Parable of the Last Judgment? Of course, they are the ones who are sitting on the throne with the Son of Man in his glory. Perhaps the point of the parable is a little bit more than simply being a “nice guy.” If the “least ones” are sitting on the throne, then we’re in a world turned upside down. That’s what happens when the Crucified One is the Risen Lord!

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Sunday, 18 February 2024 07:36

Sunday, Week I, Lent

God said to Noah, “I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow appears in the clouds, I will recall the covenant I have made between me and you and all living beings, so that the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all mortal beings." (Gen 9:8-15)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021824.cfm
As a friend once said, “Sometimes a rainbow is just a rainbow.” But then at other times a rainbow can be so much more: a sign of hope, a place of safety, a promise of inclusion, a covenant of peace.

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Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were at table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus said to them in reply, “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.” (Lk 5”27-32)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021724.cfm
When I was in high school, a friend made a smart remark about the church in front of his grandmother. I never forgot her reply: “The church is not a club for saints, it’s a hospital for sinners.”

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