Daily Gospel Reflection
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August 18, 2019
Jesus said to his disciples:
“I have come to set the earth on fire,
and how I wish it were already blazing!
There is a baptism with which I must be baptized,
and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!
Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?
No, I tell you, but rather division.
From now on a household of five will be divided,
three against two and two against three;
a father will be divided against his son
and a son against his father,
a mother against her daughter
and a daughter against her mother,
a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
Many years ago, while living in India, I met an old man, a retired professor of religion, named Yisudas (his name means “Servant of Jesus”) who as a youth had been cast out of his home by his parents for having embraced Christianity. He was even forcibly committed for a time to a mental asylum, and he was told it would have been better if he had become a robber or a thief than to have dishonored his family by becoming a Christian.
In the midst of terrible suffering in the asylum Yisudas was given a vision of Christ, who, he said, “has never left me, and I will never leave him.” Though he never saw his parents again, he spoke wistfully of them to me, knowing the pain he had caused them. But he had no regrets about his conversion. He knew Christ as a living Presence, a gracious Master who had saved him from his sins and who was his closest friend. A year later he was baptized, but he had already endured a baptism of suffering that Christ speaks of in today’s reading.
I cannot help but think of Yisudas from time to time and of the “fire” of love enkindled in him by Christ that had finally led him to forsake everything as the necessary price of discipleship. It was a fire that continued to burn in him even in old age.
We might ask ourselves today, even when we already count ourselves as disciples of Christ, whether that consuming fire still burns in us. Has it somehow grown weaker over time? Does our prayer life sometimes become mechanical and lethargic? Have we too easily given in to the countless distractions of daily life and thereby neglected Christ’s call to open ourselves to this great gift of love? Are we able to ask God to purify our heart and mind, to help us respond more fully to this all-consuming love?
Prayer
Father all-powerful, you sent the Holy Spirit into the world to set our hearts on fire. May the grace we receive through your Spirit help us to heal the divisions that separate us from our brothers and sisters. Help us to be zealous advocates of your undying love for humanity, so that all people will work to make you known, loved, and served. We make this prayer through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Helen did more than perhaps any other female saint (aside from Mary) to spread the good news and establish the faith around the world.
She had humble beginnings—she was the daughter of an inn-keeper in ancient Rome. In about 270, the Roman general Constantius Chlorus met her at her family’s inn and married her. When he was made caesar, he was influenced to divorce her; by that time, Helen had already given birth to a son, Constantine.
When Constantius died, Helen’s son, Constantine, was acclaimed caesar by the army. Later, he was declared emperor, and in 313 issued the famous Edict of Milan, which ceased the persecution of Christians and promoted their toleration.
At about this time, Helen converted to the faith. Though she was 63 when she joined the Church, she had great zeal—it seemed as though she were making up for lost time. She wore simple, plain clothes to attend Mass at churches in Rome and supported the poor liberally with the resources at her disposal.
When Constantine’s power spread eastward, Helen visited Palestine to see the places where Jesus lived and died. She wanted to find those places and objects that were sacred to Christians and to preserve them for later generations. She is credited with finding the “true cross” on which Jesus was executed, and she built churches in Bethlehem, on the Mt. of Olives, and over the tomb of Jesus.
She spent the remainder of her life in the Holy Land—praying and supporting the Church there. She continued to live humbly, and when she met pilgrims, she showed them the greatest reverence—even serving them at table and washing their hands.
She used her position of power to support the poor and those who were suffering—wounded soldiers, mine workers, the imprisoned. She built churches and adorned many more. She died in 330.
The relics of St. Helen rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica, as does a fragment from the true cross that she discovered. She is depicted there in stained glass.
St. Helen, you discovered the true cross and used your power to support the Church, pray for us!