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.
Monday, Week XIII, Ordinary Time
Thus says the LORD: For three crimes of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke my word; Because they sell the just man for silver, and the poor man for a pair of sandals. They trample the heads of the weak into the dust of the earth, and force the lowly out of the way . . . . Beware, I will crush you into the ground as a wagon crushes when laden with sheaves, says the LORD. (Am 2:6-10, 13-16)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062722.cfm
Welcome to the summer of the prophets! In the weekday Masses we will be reading through the prophets until the end of August. Today’s reading is from the Prophet Amos. Amos was from the southern kingdom but preached in the northern kingdom. Amos attacks the false piety of the people and proclaims God’s love for the poor. As my seminary professor used to say, “When politics goes religious, the poor always suffer.”
XIII Sunday, Ordinary Time
On the way they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for his reception there, but they would not welcome him because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village. (Lk 9:51-62)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062622.cfm
Jesus has to rebuke his bloodthirsty disciples. Unfortunately, bloodthirsty disciples have existed in every age, and if we are silent and fail to rebuke them ourselves, then we have failed as disciples of Jesus.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, 2022
When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. (Lk 2:41-51)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062522.cfm
Yesterday we celebrated the Sacred Heart of Jesus, today the Immaculate Heart of Mary—two hearts joined in life, two hearts joined for all eternity in God’s love, two hearts that beat as one.
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Sacred Heart of Jesus, 2022
I myself will pasture my sheep; I myself will give them rest, says the Lord GOD. The lost I will seek out, the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, the sick I will heal . . . shepherding them rightly. (Ez 34:11-16)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062422.cfm
Devotion to the Heart of Christ invites us to contemplate the humanity of the Good Shepherd and so enter into the very heart of God. And so the church teaches us to pray: O Sacred Heart of Jesus, make our hearts like unto yours.
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Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, June 23
Alleluia (Lk 1:76)
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
You, child, will be called prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062322-day.cfm
The birth of a child invites us all to reflect on what this child will become. The birth of John the Baptist is no different. To prepare the way of the Lord is a good description of the portrayal of the ministry of John the Baptist in the Scriptures. To prepare the way of the Lord is a good description of the work we are called to and of the work of disciples in every age.
Wednesday, Week XII, Ordinary Time
The high priest Hilkiah informed the scribe Shaphan, “I have found the book of the law in the temple of the LORD.” (2 Kgs 22:8-13; 23:1-3)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062222.cfm
Israel was divided into two kingdoms, north and south, since the time of Solomon. When the northern kingdom fell (722 BC), which was described in Monday’s reading, refugees flooded the southern kingdom, Judah and its capital, Jerusalem. The Book of the Law (the Book of Deuteronomy) was most likely brought by the refugees when they fled. Its “discovery” in the Temple in Jerusalem filled the southern kingdom with hope and renewed faith. Of course, the southern kingdom itself will fall some 136 years later in 586 BC.
Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, June 21
Jesus said to his disciples: “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.” (Mt 7:6,12-14)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062122.cfm
Saint Aloysius found that the way to life led him to care for others—not very popular thing to do in a time of plague. And, of course, he died of plague at the age of 23. The church has always admired apostolic zeal especially in the young. Saint Aloysius is one of the patron saints of those living with AIDS and of those who care for them.
