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 V, LENT
Thus was innocent blood spared that day.
(Dn 13:1-9,15-17,19-30,33-62)
“Woman, where are they?
Has no one condemned you?”
She replied, “No one, sir.”
Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.
Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”
(Jn 8:1-11)
The stories of Susanna and the Woman Caught in Adultery form a wonderful contrast. In the story of Susanna “innocent blood [was] spared that day"; in the gospel, even the guilty are spared. As Jesus would say, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”
V SUNDAY of LENT
“And when I am lifted up from the earth,
I will draw everyone to myself.”
He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.
(Jn 12:20-33)
Jesus being “lifted up” transforms “the kind of death he would die” into his exaltation in glory. This Sunday begins the period we call Passiontide, with its focus on the Cross and Resurrection of the Lord.
SATURDAY, WEEK IV, LENT
Some in the crowd who heard these words of Jesus said,
“This is truly the Prophet.”
Others said, “This is the Christ.”
But others said, “The Christ will not come from Galilee, will he?
Does not Scripture say that the Christ will be of David’s family
and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?”
So a division occurred in the crowd because of him.
Some of them even wanted to arrest him,
but no one laid hands on him.
(Jn 7:40-53)
A very interesting passage from the Fourth Gospel (the one we call “According to John.” The question of where Jesus is from is a central question of the gospel. The Fourth Gospel avoids the solution of Matthew and Luke that says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and lived in Nazareth in Galilee. The Fourth Gospel proudly proclaims that Jesus is “from God,” and that we, too, have been born of God.
SOLEMNITY OF SAINT JOSEPH, March 19
The faith of Abraham,
who 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.
(Rom 4:13,16-18,22)
Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
a righteous man . . . .
(Mt 1:16,18-21,24)
In the recent apostolic visit of Pope Francis to Iraq, he visited the birthplace of Abraham, our father in faith, for Jews, Christians, and Moslems. Today is the feast of Saint Joseph, a righteous man in the faith of Abraham.
THURSDAY, WEEK IV, LENT
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Then he spoke of exterminating them,
but Moses, his chosen one,
Withstood him in the breach
to turn back his destructive wrath.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
(Psalm 106)
The story of Moses is the stuff of Hollywood. I remember when I was 7 years old I met Moses . . . well, the actor who played Moses in The Ten Commandments. It was at Disneyland in California. He was with his family, standing in line getting a ticket for a ride. I remember the song about Moses we learned as children.
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WEDNESDAY, WEEK IV, LENT—Saint Patrick, bishop, March 17
Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me.”
Can a mother forget her infant,
be without tenderness for the child of her womb?
Even should she forget,
I will never forget you.
(Is 49:8-15)
God will never forget us . . . the Lord like a loving mother always shows us tenderness and compassion. Today is the feast of Saint Patrick who brought comfort to God’s people. Saint Patrick was from Roman Britain. When he was 16 he was captured and taken as a slave to Ireland. He eventually escaped and returned to his home. After he was ordained, he went back to Ireland and spent the rest of his life ministering there. He was the first bishop of Ireland.
Christ, be with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ where I lie, Christ where I sit, Christ where I arise, Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me. (from The Breastplate of Saint Patrick)
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TUESDAY, WEEK IV, LENT
The angel brought me
back to the entrance of the temple of the LORD,
and I saw water flowing out
the right side of the temple,
south of the altar.
(Ezekiel 47:1-9,12)
This passage forms an important part of the hymn heard during the Easter Season: Vidi Aquam. The hymn is normally heard during the sprinkling with holy water and recalls our baptism.
