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.

TUESDAY, WEEK I OF LENT

Jesus said to his disciples: “This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread; and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors; and do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one. (Mt 6:9-13)

The most radical two words in the prayer that Jesus gave us are the first two: Our Father. When we pray Our Father, who is not included in the “Our?” It’s a statement about our relationship with God, but even more, it’s a radical statement about our relationship with one another.

MONDAY OF WEEK I OF LENT

‘What you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ (Mt 25:45)

The problem of "doing things for Jesus" is that we tend to care just for the deserving poor . . . and so we miss Jesus every time.

I SUNDAY OF LENT

“. . . through the obedience of the one, the many will be made righteous.” (Rom 5:19)

Long before there was an Ash Wednesday, Lent began on the First Sunday of Lent. So if you missed Ash Wednesday, rejoice! You can begin the journey today . . . the journey with Christ to the Easter that never ends.

ASH SATURDAY

Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post.
He said to him, “Follow me.”
And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him.
Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house,
and a large crowd of tax collectors
and others were at table with them.
The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying,
“Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
Jesus said to them in reply,
“Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do.
I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.” (Lk 5:27-32)
 
If we’re not one of the “sickies,” we don’t get Jesus. And of course, one  of the charges against Jesus was “This one welcomes sinners and eats with them.”  I guess he still does.

ASH FRIDAY

This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; Setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own. (Is 58:6-7)

Fasting is not about my losing weight. Fasting is about doing justice. It’s not optional.

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