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.
Pharaoh made his chariots ready and mustered his soldiers— six hundred first-class chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt, with warriors on them all. The Egyptians, then, pursued them; Pharaoh's whole army, his horses, chariots and charioteers, caught up with them as they lay encamped by the sea. (Ex 14:5-18 & Ex 14:21-15:1)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072125.cfm
One of the greatest chase scenes ever! Because of tomorrow’s feast, wise liturgy planners expand today’s reading to include the conclusion which normally would follow tomorrow. It might not have happened as Cecil B. DeMille imagined it in the movie, The Ten Commandments, but it still brings goosebumps when it is read at the Easter Vigil.
Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. (Lk 10:38-42)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072025.cfm
The story of Martha and Mary in Luke’s gospel provokes a lot of questions: but not about active and contemplative vocations in the church. My questions: Why does this gospel writer not mention the village by name, Bethany? Where is the sisters’ brother, Lazarus? and finally, Why does the raising of Lazarus (Jesus’ greatest miracle) not appear in this gospel? Don’t you just love Scripture?
At the end of four hundred and thirty years, all the hosts of the LORD left the land of Egypt on this very date. This was a night of vigil for the LORD, as he led them out of the land of Egypt; so on this same night all the children of Israel must keep a vigil for the LORD throughout their generations. (Ex 12:37-42)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071925.cfm
The Easter Triduum, culminating in the Easter Vigil, celebrates the deliverance of all humanity from the slavery to sin and death through the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus. I’ll never forget my classmate from seminary who pulled me aside one day after class asking me to explain to him the Triduum. He had never heard of it. His family attended Mass every Sunday and holy day of obligation, but he had never even heard of the Easter Vigil. Needless to say, we had a lengthy conversation with a lot of alleluias!
"This is how you are to eat it: with your loins girt, sandals on your feet and your staff in hand, you shall eat like those who are in flight. It is the Passover of the LORD. For on this same night I will go through Egypt. But the blood will mark the houses where you are. Seeing the blood, I will pass over you. This day shall be a memorial feast for you, which all your generations shall celebrate with pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual institution." (Ex 11:10-12:14)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071825.cfm
The Passover is the ritual celebration of the liberation from slavery. Saint Paul sees the fulfillment of the Passover in the Eucharist where we proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. As Paul says: For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the feast, with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1 Cor 5:7-8).
God spoke further to Moses, "Go and assemble the elders of Israel, and tell them: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me and said: I am concerned about you and about the way you are being treated in Egypt; so I have decided to lead you up out of the misery of Egypt into a land flowing with milk and honey." (Ex 3:13-20)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071725.cfm
The Biblical story of the liberation from Egyptian slavery has been a sign of hope and God’s favor for oppressed peoples in every age. Liberation Theology is not new. God has always been on the side of the oppressed and the downtrodden. Sometimes the church has been, too. https://youtu.be/gtLcELU1brA?si=PVOsNC--SIwzLakR
