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.
Thus says the LORD of hosts:
In those days ten men of every nationality,
speaking different tongues, shall take hold,
yes, take hold of every Jew by the edge of his garment and say,
“Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” (Zec 8:20-23)
Imagine the surprise . . . a complete stranger, a foreigner at that, comes up to you on the street, grabs you and says, “Hey, I hear God is with you. Can I join?” Today is the feast of Lawrence Ruiz (the first canonized Phillipine saint) and his companions, missionary martyrs to Japan.
Thus says the LORD of hosts:
Lo, I will rescue my people from the land of the rising sun,
and from the land of the setting sun.
I will bring them back to dwell within Jerusalem.
They shall be my people, and I will be their God,
with faithfulness and justice. (Zec 8:1-8)
No one saint has inspired the church to work for justice like Saint Vincent de Paul. As the Scriptures remind us, working for justice is an essential part of faith because our God comes with faithfulness and justice. As Saint Vincent de Paul said, “There is no Charity without Justice.”
The LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses. Taking some of the spirit that was on Moses, the LORD bestowed it on the seventy elders; and as the spirit came to rest on them, they prophesied. Moses said, "Would that all the people of the LORD were prophets! Would that the LORD might bestow his spirit on them all!" (Num 11:25-29)
God’s Spirit is generously given. The Spirit fills the earth and us too. Most of us do not think of ourselves as prophets, and so Saint Paul has some good advice for us, “Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thes 5:19). Perhaps we need to pay attention to that old prayer to the Holy Spirit:
Come, Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of your faithful
and kindle in us the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit and we shall be created.
And you shall renew the face of the earth.
Responsorial Psalm (Jer 31:10,11-12ab,13)
R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, proclaim it on distant isles, and say: He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together, he guards them as a shepherd guards his flock.
R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
Then the virgins shall make merry and dance, and young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.
R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
When we are devastated and depressed, we feel that we will never be happy again. But God has other plans . . . to turn our mourning into joy. Why don’t they ever talk about making merry and dancing when they talk about heaven. We certainly could use some good news for a change! Well, the prophet reminds us that the Lord guards us as a shepherd guards his flock. “O nations, hear the word of the Lord!”
But now take courage, Zerubbabel, says the LORD, and take courage, Joshua, high priest, son of Jehozadak,
And take courage, all you people of the land, says the LORD, and work!
For I am with you, says the LORD of hosts. This is the pact that I made with you when you came out of Egypt,
And my spirit continues in your midst; do not fear! (Haggai 2:1-9)
Take courage, work, I am with you, don’t be afraid. Powerful words from the Prophet Haggai, words for God’s people in every age, words for us today in this time of the politics of division. For there’s work to be done: to care for the sick and the imprisoned, to welcome immigrants, to give people hope, to build a world of justice where everyone can find a place at the table of the human family. Today is the feast of our Lady of Mercy, the feast of the Sisters of Mercy.
