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.
Day 12, Saturday, 17 September
Today we land in Egypt and begin a four-day cruise on the Nile to visit the temples of Luxor and Aswan.
Day 2, Thursday, 07 September
Today we land in Istanbul, Turkey. Today's picture is of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey. Hagia Sophia was the cathedral of ancient Constantinople.
Middle Eastern Adventure, Day 1
Today we begin our journey. First, we fly from Medellín to Bogotá in this morning. Then this afternoon, we board our overnight flight to Estambul, Turkey. We have a brief stop in Panamá, then we continue our flight and should arrive in Turkey around 5:00 pm on Wednesday. After arrival we head to the hotel, dinner and rest! Thursday morning, bright and early, we begin! (There is an 7 hour time difference between Turkey and the Eastern Time Zone of the USA.) I will be praying for all of you!
Monday, Week XXIII, Ordinary Time
For our Paschal Lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the feast. (1 Cor 5:1-8)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090522.cfm
Our Passover lamb is Christ, God’s Lamb who takes away the sins of the world.
XXIII Sunday, Ordinary Time
Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 90)
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants!
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
Fill us at daybreak with your kindness, that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
And may the gracious care of the LORD our God be ours; prosper the work of our hands for us! Prosper the work of our hands!
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090422.cfm
How important is wisdom—not only to “number our days aright” but to remember that God has been our refuge from one generation to the next!
Saint Gregory the Great, pope & doctor, September 3
For as I see it, God has exhibited us Apostles as the last of all, like people sentenced to death, since we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and men alike. We are fools on Christ’s account, but you are wise in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clad and roughly treated, we wander about homeless and we toil, working with our own hands. When ridiculed, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we respond gently. We have become like the world’s rubbish, the scum of all, to this very moment. (1 Cor 4:6b-15)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090322.cfm
With all the difficulties of his ministry, Paul would not have changed places with anyone. Saint Gregory (540-605) promoted a renewal of pastoral ministry in the church.
Media
Friday, Week XXII, Ordinary Time
Thus should one regard us: as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. It does not concern me in the least that I be judged by you or any human tribunal; the one who judges me is the Lord. (1 Cor 4:1-5)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090222.cfm
Long ago, in a parish far, far away, I was being attacked for my HIV/AIDS ministry and my outreach to LGBT Catholics and their parents. I made reference to this particular passage of scripture:
“As a pastor and a priest, I will not turn my back on those who are living with HIV/AIDS. As a pastor and a priest, I will not turn my back on our gay brothers and sisters and their families. One day I will have to stand before our Lord and give an accounting of my priestly ministry. He is the one to judge me—not you. And what is the measure he will use? . . . "as often as you did it for one of these least ones, you did it to me."
