Daily Gospel Reflection
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December 2, 2021
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
will enter the Kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.
And everyone who listens to these words of mine
but does not act on them
will be like a fool who built his house on sand.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”
In preparation for my priestly ordination seven years ago, my classmates and I had to undergo a weeklong retreat that ended on a Friday. We were to be ordained priests on the next day, a Saturday. The gospel for our faith sharing on the last day of the retreat was taken from today’s gospel.
The opening sentence: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven…” got me feeling inadequate and afraid.
I was wondering if I was ready to accept the gift of the Catholic Priesthood. While I dwelt so much on my doubts, an inner voice kept reassuring me that the grace of God is sufficient for me. Like Fulton Sheen would say: “the priest is not his own.” It is the priesthood of Christ and not mine. If I cooperate with Christ, he will supply the necessary graces.
The same reading that got me trembling almost seven years inspires in me a different reaction today. For me, these seven years in service of God and his people have been a constant reminder not to be lost in hypocrisy. The reading challenges me to live out the true meaning of the priesthood and obey the commandments of God. It is not enough for me to be an eloquent preacher of God’s word. I must also practice what I preach and live it out daily.
Today’s gospel tells me that the best gospel preached is the gospel lived. I am called to be a witness to God’s word, but while leading others to the kingdom of heaven, I must not miss out on it too.
Prayer
Lord, you tell us to build a house on rock and not on sand. We need a strong foundation for our lives, or we will surely be blown away by the first gust of wind. In our hearts we know that we cannot survive without you, but still we are fearful. If we allow you to get too close what will we have to give up, what will we have to change? Give us courage, Lord. Amen.
Saint of the Day
The ancient Roman Martyrology, which lists the early Christians who died for the faith, contains the names of St. Bibiana and her family. Aside from this early testament, we do not know much for sure about these martyrs.
The stories that have been handed down tell of a Roman family—the couple Flavian and Dafrosa, and their two daughters, Demetria and Bibiana, all of whom were Christians who lived their faith with zeal, and were arrested in one of the persecutions of the Roman empire.
Flavian was marked on the face with a hot iron and banished from Rome to a labor camp, where he died from exertion, and his wife, Dafrosa, was beheaded. Demetria and Bibiana lost everything that they owned and were forced to live in dire poverty for five months. They stayed in their house and used the time for fasting and prayer.
Finally, the sisters were brought into court. Demetria confessed her faith before the judge, then collapsed and died on the spot. Bibiana was sentenced to “reformation” under a mentor of sorts, who tried to convince her to denounce her faith. Bibiana stayed faithful, and was then tortured and killed. Her body was left in the open for wild beasts to tear apart, but it was not touched.
The relics of Bibiana and her father, Flavian (whose feast day is Dec. 22), rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica. A basilica named after St. Bibiana was dedicated to her in the fifth century and still stands in Rome today.
St. Bibiana, who suffered and was killed with her family for her faithfulness—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Bibiana is available for use under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Last accessed November 21, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons.
