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.
Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” (Lk 15:1-3, 11-32)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/033025-YearC.cfm
The Parable of the Prodigal Son is best understood in the context where the gospel writer puts it: the Eating and Drinking with Sinners. The charge against Jesus, welcoming sinners and eating with them, is one of the earliest memories we have of the Eucharist. Who is welcome at the Table has become a burning question in some church circles, but Jesus answered that question long ago.
But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former. (Lk 18:9-14)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032925.cfm
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector calls into question the hypocrisy of us church folks. Perhaps that is why the ancient fathers and mothers of the church always recommended the “Jesus Prayer”: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.”
One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, "Which is the first of all the commandments?" Jesus replied, "The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these." (Mk 12:28-34)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032825.cfm
Love neighbor can never be separated from Love God. In one sense they are the same commandment and “the first of all the commandments.”
When you speak all these words to them, they will not listen to you either; when you call to them, they will not answer you. Say to them: This is the nation that does not listen to the voice of the LORD, its God, or take correction. Faithfulness has disappeared; the word itself is banished from their speech. (Jer 7:23-28)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032725.cfm
The “dumbing down” of society is a part of raw control. Conspiracy theories, distrust of science, eliminating support for education and independent inquiry, all lead to closed minds and outright ignorance and a people easily manipulated. When we refuse to listen, when we can’t admit our mistakes, we are seriously deluded and incapable of change. Yet the Lord still invites us: Repent, and believe in the Good News. Today’s photo is from the new Netflix series, Adolescence.
Moses spoke to the people and said: “Take care and be earnestly on your guard not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live, but teach them to your children and to your children's children." (Dt 4:1, 5-9)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032625.cfm
“Remember the graces”—that was the advice the old monks always shared with us youngsters. And as the old grandpa in the movie Avalon (1990) said, “We must tell the story. For when we stop remembering, we forget.”
