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.
Thursday, Week X, Ordinary Time
"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/060922.cfm
Sometimes we prefer to get the cart before the horse, but the Lord won’t let us get away with it. If you want to get religious, says the Lord, you have to start by mending fences.
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Wednesday, Week X, Ordinary Time
Then the prophet Elijah prayed: “Answer me, LORD! Answer me, that this people may know that you, LORD, are God and that you have turned their hearts back to you.” (1 Kgs 18:20-39)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060822.cfm
The story of the prophet Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal is one of the most exciting in Scripture. But even more impressive is the prophet's simple prayer to the God who "can change hearts."
Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, 2022
When they entered the city they went to the upper room where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. (Acts 1:12-14)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060622.cfm
Today we remember the Blessed Virgin Mary who remained in prayer with the early community of disciples. We call her Mother of the Church for the Lord Jesus has entrusted her to our care and says to us as he says to Beloved Disciples in every age, “There is your mother.”
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PENTECOST SUNDAY, 2022
Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 104)
R. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth. Alleluia.
Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD, my God, you are great indeed! How manifold are your works, O LORD! the earth is full of your creatures.
R Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth. Alleluia.
If you take away their breath, they perish and return to their dust. When you send forth your spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.
R. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth. Alleluia.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060522-day.cfm
The work of creation never ends—because God is not finished with us yet. And that is really Good News!
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Saturday of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Easter, June 4
It is this disciple who testifies to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true. There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written. (Jn 21:20-25)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060422.cfm
We come to the second conclusion of the Fourth Gospel with the passage about the Beloved Disciple. We learn that the Beloved has written these things, and as the writer of this passage says, “We know that his testimony is true.” Obviously, the Beloved has died, but why would there be any doubt about whether this disciple would not die, unless the Beloved is truly Lazarus whom Jesus had raised from the dead? The Acts of the Apostles also comes to an end with Paul under house arrest in Rome freely preaching the gospel and fulfilling the words of Jesus: “You will be my witnesses . . . to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Tomorrow is Pentecost, the end of the Easter Season. Today we remember the Blessed Virgin Mary who remained in prayer with the early community of disciples.
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Saints Charles Lwanga & Companions, Martyrs, June 3
After Jesus had revealed himself to his disciples and eaten breakfast with them, he said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” (Jn 21:15-19)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060322.cfm
"Breakfast by the Sea" sounds so romantic . . . until we get to the heart of the matter today. Peter was probably hoping that the Lord would just forget about his three denials. But the Lord chooses to go there and what follows is that Peter is restored to apostolic ministry . . . but it is a different ministry, one not based on privilege and power but rather a ministry based on Love. Saint Charles and his companions were martyred between 1885-1887 in Uganda. Today's picture shows Saint Charles baptizing one of his companions before their martyrdom.
Thursday, Week VII, Easter
Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying: “I pray not only for these, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.” (Jn 17:20-26)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060222.cfm
The High Priestly Prayer of Jesus concludes today with the Lord continuing to pray that we may be one so that the world may believe that he was sent by God. How important is Christian Unity—Christian Unity is not just a nice idea, it is essential if the world is to believe. Today’s photo is of Pope Francis and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew praying together at the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, May 25, 2014, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the signing of the joint declaration by Pope Paul VI and the Patriarch Athenagoras (1964) committing the Catholic and Orthodox Churches to work for full sacramental unity in obedience to command of Jesus Christ that his "disciples may be one."
