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.
Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. (Rom 13:8-10)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110525.cfm
As we come to the final sections of the Letter to the Romans, Paul becomes very practical speaking about the priority of love in our lives and in the life of the Christian community. If we do not love we have failed as human beings, we have failed as a Christian community. https://youtu.be/-D7gKjk_bGw?si=X0AGACd9OFJBmmNy
We, though many, are one Body in Christ and individually parts of one another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us exercise them: if prophecy, in proportion to the faith; if ministry, in ministering; if one is a teacher, in teaching; if one exhorts, in exhortation; if one contributes, in generosity; if one is over others, with diligence; if one does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. (Rom 12:5-16ab)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110425.cfm
We’re not used to thinking that being one Body in Christ, we are individually parts of one another. Paul calls us to put our gifts to the service of one another. Saint Charles (1538-1584) did just that. He was archbishop of Milan and after the Council of Trent he helped to reform the church by creating seminaries and the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD). Today’s photo is of his cathedral in Milan, Italy.
Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. (Lk 14:12-13)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110325.cfm
Saint Martin de Porres (1579-1639), illegitimate son of a Spaniard and a freed African slave, was not always welcomed at the table. Members of his religious community made fun of him for being illegitimate and descended from slaves and called him a “mulatto dog”. My mother worked as a nurse at Blessed Martin de Porres Hospital (a maternity hospital for Black women) in Mobile, Alabama. When Martin was canonized in 1962 by Pope John XXIII, “Blessed” was removed and “Saint” in new letters was added.
If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him. (Rom 6:3-9)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110224.cfm
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen. And may their souls, and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen. https://youtu.be/0_tghDWzPlc
After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God, and exclaimed: “Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen." (Rev 7:9-12)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110125.cfm
Today’s Feast of All Saints and tomorrow’s Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed form two moments of one feast—remembering and celebrating all the faithful ones who have gone before us and handed on the faith to us. As we say in the Apostles' Creed: "I believe in the communion of saints." Happy Feast Day to them and to all of us! May we follow them walking in the footsteps Jesus. https://youtu.be/UwE6HGXKxzg?si=6Fr_4ArWhPRmVHbf
