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 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.
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Thursday, Week XXVIII, Ordinary Time
For we consider that a person is justified by faith
apart from works of the law.
Does God belong to Jews alone?
Does he not belong to Gentiles, too?
Yes, also to Gentiles, for God is one
and will justify the circumcised on the basis of faith
and the uncircumcised through faith. (Rom 3:21-30)
Does God not belong to Gentiles too? What a rhetorical question! But right to the point. For if God does indeed belong to the Gentiles . . . then the world is no longer divided between “us and them.” God is for everyone. And that is pretty radical. Maybe that’s why Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father,” because who is not included in that “our?” The video is of the Our Father sung in Aramaic.
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Wednesday, Week XXVIII, Ordinary Time
God will repay everyone according to his works. (Rom 2:1-11)
As Saint Paul reminds us, salvation comes to us by God’s grace freely given in Jesus Christ. And as the Psalmist says: “Only in God is my soul at rest; from him comes my salvation (Psalm 62).”
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Tuesday, Week XXVIII, Ordinary Time
For what can be known about God is evident to them, because God made it evident to them. Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made. (Rom 1:16-25)
The beauty of creation is not an obstacle to faith. Faith and science are not mutually exclusive, rather they go together. As today’s psalm proclaims: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day pours out the word to day, and night to night imparts knowledge” (Psalm 19).
