Daily Gospel Reflection
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December 10, 2020
Jesus said to the crowds:
“Amen, I say to you,
among those born of women
there has been none greater than John the Baptist;
yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
From the days of John the Baptist until now,
the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence,
and the violent are taking it by force.
All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of John.
And if you are willing to accept it,
he is Elijah, the one who is to come.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
“The Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force.”
Jesus’ words in today’s gospel are stark. The prophets before John the Baptist suffered violence. John, who announces Jesus as the Messiah, will suffer violence. Jesus himself will suffer violence.
But how can the Kingdom of heaven suffer violence? When I read this passage, I imagine that the Kingdom of heaven “suffers violence” whenever we reject the prophets who seek to bring us the peace of the Kingdom. Prophetic voices like those of Elijah, John the Baptist, and Jesus are not often understood in their own time.
Surely, we cannot harm the Kingdom of heaven with our actions on earth, right? But whenever we reject the prophetic message of the Kingdom, we stand as obstacles to its coming. The violence we inflict on the Kingdom wounds us, and it wounds our brothers and sisters.
Today’s reading reminds me of another passage from the Gospel of Matthew: “Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you [falsely] because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (MT 5:11-12) The prophet is the one who shares in the suffering of Christ precisely because she or he witnesses to the Kingdom.
The season of Advent reminds us that Christ’s birth is the dawning of the Kingdom. As we prepare to celebrate his birth, will we have the courage to find our prophetic voices and announce his Kingdom to the world?
Prayer
When you walked the earth, Lord, there was the same kind of violence that we see in our day. Violent men threw John into prison and raged against the kingdom you were establishing. Help us counteract the violence of our time by being men and women who try by whatever means to advance your kingdom of peace. Amen.
Saint of the Day
This title of Mary refers to the house in which she was born and raised, and in which the angel Gabriel visited her in the Annunciation. Tradition holds that angels miraculously transported the house from Palestine to Loreto, Italy, in the 13th century.
It is now believed that this legend came from the fact that a patron family with the name “Angelo” either had the house moved or had stones for a replica home imported from the Holy Land. The stones in the shrine in Italy match the stones of a structure that still stands in Nazareth that is believed to be another part of Mary’s home.
The history that we have for the house—legendary or factual—states that after Jesus’ ascension, the apostles had the home converted to a church. During her pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 336, the Empress Helen had a large basilica built over it. At the close of the Crusades, European forces feared that the house would be destroyed, and it was moved. Miracles attended it wherever it went, and the house finally rested in Italy. A basilica encases the home once again, and the town of Loreto has grown around the shrine.
Just before opening the Second Vatican Council in 1962, Pope John XXIII made a pilgrimage to Loreto. Fifty years later, in 2012, Pope Benedict XVI made a second pilgrimage to the site to mark the anniversary of the council and to dedicate the Year of Faith to Our Lady of Loreto.
A portion of Mary’s house is kept in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica on campus, and the campus church for St. Mary’s College is named after Our Lady of Loreto. Because of the legend of the angelic flying house, Our Lady of Loreto is patron of airplane pilots and attendants, and of those serving in the Air Force. She is also patron of construction workers.
Our Lady of Loreto, who teaches us to make a home for Jesus in the world, pray for us!