Daily Gospel Reflection
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December 10, 2022
As they were coming down from the mountain,
the disciples asked Jesus,
“Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
He said in reply, “Elijah will indeed come and restore all things;
but I tell you that Elijah has already come,
and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased.
So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands.”
Then the disciples understood
that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.
We have all heard the stories of Mary visiting Elizabeth while they were both expecting and of Jesus being baptized by John. We know Jesus and John were cousins, but this is all we know of their family interaction
When touring the Snite Museum on campus, I was drawn to a painting by Italian painter Fra
Paolino entitled Holy Family with Saint Elizabeth and the Infant Baptist. I had never before
thought about Jesus and John as children.
This painting made me think about the regular childhood interactions they may have had.
As they got older, was there always an unspoken knowledge between them? Jesus knew what his Father was calling him to do, but how much did John really understand?
John at least knew that Jesus was unique. When Jesus came to John to be baptized, and they looked into each other’s eyes, did they remember the family time they had spent together? Did they have a shared understanding of the significance of what would happen next, even though John didn’t know the details?
After his imprisonment, John sends messengers to confirm that Jesus is the one. Even Jesus’ dear cousin, who was there from the beginning of Jesus’ time on earth, had more to learn.
This is a short gospel reading between the transfiguration and a miracle, but it contains
much to reflect on. The disciples, too, must have had much to reflect on especially when they realized Jesus was talking about his cousin.
Prayer
Dear Lord, there is much to do this day. Give us wisdom when we are filled with questions. Grant us a grateful heart when we feel discouraged. Open our eyes to the opportunities that await us. Steady our pace so that we can see you in the people and challenges that will come our way today. Let us be pure of spirit so your glory may guide our thinking and acting. 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!