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.
Saint Laura Montoya (La Madre Laura), October 21
Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.
From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three;
a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father,
a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother,
a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” (Lk 12:49-53)
You won’t find this saying of Jesus on any Hallmark greeting card! Why would any Christian community have saved this particular saying of Jesus? It must have reflected the real lived experience of the members of that community. Many early Christians lost their families of origin when they joined this “cult” called The Way. Early Christians had to be family to one another . . . the Christian community was the only family they had left. Perhaps that’s why we still use family terms for one another in the church: sister, brother, mother, and father. The church is the family where everyone belongs, no matter what. Saint Laura Montoya (better known as La Madre Laura) is the first Colombian to be canonized. She founded a religious community and worked with the indigenous peoples. She died on October 21, 1949. Her shrine is in Medellín, Colombia.
Wednesday, Week XXIX, Ordinary Time
You also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come. (Lk 12:39-48)
I grew up in a church that seemed to love scaring people into being good with talk about the “end of the world.” There were so many sermons about the end times . . . you wouldn’t believe the number of sermons I heard on the European Common Market being the “beast” of the Book of Revelation. The gospel according to Luke tries to put an end to such distracting speculation. The church is in for the long haul. We don’t need to worry about the “when” of the end of the world (as my grandmother would say, “The world ends everyday when someone dies!”) . . . Luke’s gospel reminds us that it’s important that we stay busy doing the Lord’s work.
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Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, Priests, and Companions, Martyrs, October 19
Blessed are those servants
whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.
Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself,
have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. (Lk 12:35-38)
If the Lord finds us ready when he comes, he will serve us! Today is the feast of the North American martyrs who were found vigilant when the Lord came. The martyrs are St. Jean de Brébeuf (1649), St. Noël Chabanel (1649), St. Antoine Daniel (1648), St. Charles Garnier (1649), St. René Goupil (1642), St. Isaac Jogues (1646), St. Jean de Lalande (1646) and St. Gabriel Lalemant (1649). The eight were Jesuit missionaries who died in Canada and upstate New York.
Saint Luke, evangelist, October 18
Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you,
for the laborer deserves payment.
Do not move about from one house to another. (Lk 10:1-9)
What an interesting instruction for early Christian missionaries: obviously, some missionaries were shopping around looking for better accommodations or a better table! Today is not so much the feast of a person (a gospel writer), but the feast of the gospel itself, the one we call “according to Luke.”
XXIX ORDINARY SUNDAY
“Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.
For the Son of Man did not come to be served
but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mk 10:35-45)
Not to be served, but to serve and to give his life . . . through his suffering my servant will justify many . . . the eyes of the Lord are on those who wait for his kindness to deliver them from death . . . we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, so let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy.
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Saturday of Our Lady, the Virgin Mary
Abraham, is the father of all of us, as it is written, I have made you father of many nations.
He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead
and calls into being what does not exist. He believed, hoping against hope,
that he would become the father of many nations,
according to what was said, Thus shall your descendants be. (Rom 4:13, 16-18)
The faith of Abraham is shared and revered by Jews, Christians and Moslems. Indeed, how numerous are the descendants of Abraham! Today’s picture is of our father, Abraham, with his many sons. Mary, the mother of Jesus and our mother too, is a descendant of Abraham.
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Saint Teresa of Jesus, virgin and doctor of the church, October 15
"Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins?
Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God.
Even the hairs of your head have all been counted.
Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows." (Lk 12:1-7)
Indeed, we are worth more than many sparrows. So, God does notice us, God does watch over us—for we are precious in God’s sight. Saint Teresa of Jesus (or Saint Teresa of Ávila as she is also known) is the Doctor of Prayer:
Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. All things are passing. God never changes. Patience gains all things. To the one who has God, nothing is lacking. Only God is enough.
