Daily Gospel Reflection
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February 21, 2023
Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee,
but he did not wish anyone to know about it.
He was teaching his disciples and telling them,
“The Son of Man is to be handed over to men
and they will kill him,
and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise.”
But they did not understand the saying,
and they were afraid to question him.
They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house,
he began to ask them,
“What were you arguing about on the way?”
But they remained silent.
For they had been discussing among themselves on the way
who was the greatest.
Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them,
“If anyone wishes to be first,
he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”
Taking a child, he placed it in their midst,
and putting his arms around it, he said to them,
“Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me;
and whoever receives me,
receives not me but the One who sent me.”
As a Holy Cross priest who serves in a Portland, Oregon parish, today, Fat Tuesday is usually a day of fun, feasting, drinking, and revelry. It’s also the last day “Alleluia” rings out in the churches at Mass.
Tomorrow we begin a journey as Christians that we take every year. Tomorrow, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent. Those who‘re preparing to be baptized, as members of the RCIA, pray more fervently. They are purified more intensely as they anticipate Holy Saturday’s Easter Vigil, where they become full-fledged Catholic Christians by water and the spirit, confirmed into their faith and sharing the Eucharist for the first time.
For those already baptized, Lent is the time to open our hearts and lives to the Lord so that we may experience conversion from our sin and selfishness. We desire to be ready to renew our baptismal promises with the congregation on Easter Sunday with great gusto and Easter joy.
As one privileged to baptize others for 33 years, I relish the mystery that everyone who emerges from a baptismal font, dripping wet and sputtering (if fully immersed), officially becomes a child of God and a member of Christ’s Body, the church.
Lent leads us to our destination: Easter with its 50 days. Renewed in our faith through the ancient practices of personal prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we can teach our children and ourselves how to enter into the mystery of the Cross, the twin realities of dying and rising to new life in the Lord Jesus.
So, today, let’s enjoy Fat Tuesday and be ready to enter Ash Wednesday tomorrow, eager to receive all the good Lord wants to give us. Alleluia!
Prayer
Heavenly Father, through sin we curve inward upon ourselves, selfishly desiring to be served and honored by others. Open our hearts in humility to receive the gift of the cross and so give ourselves away in service to others for love of Christ. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Peter Damian was declared a doctor of the Church for practicing what he preached. He reformed and strengthened the Church as an administrator, but he led people with his example.
He was born in 1007 in Italy as the youngest of a large family. When he was orphaned at a young age, he was sent to live with an older brother, who treated him like a slave and sent him to tend the pigs. Another brother, Damian, a priest, took pity on him and welcomed him into his home and educated him. In gratitude, Peter took this brother’s name as his own last name.
Peter was an excellent student and continued in school until he was teaching himself. He was also very pious and devoted himself to prayer and fasting. He seemed to always have a poor person under his care, and often fed them at his own table. He was considering a vocation to the religious life when two Benedictine monks happened to visit him. He heard about their community life and decided to join them.
He was so devout that his fasting and mortifications interfered with his health, and he had to spend time recovering. He used that time to learn the Scriptures well, and when he recovered fully, he was tasked with teaching others, both within the monastery and beyond.
Peter was eventually elected to lead the Benedictine community when the abbot died, and he greatly expanded the monastery and even went on to establish seven other houses for new communities.
He was so intelligent and led such a faithful life that popes and kings began to ask for his assistance in deciding matters. He was named bishop and cardinal, and fervently fought to reform life of the clergy, who were living in worldly ways. Whatever he proposed for others he practiced himself. The pope used him a number of times as his representative.
Peter never lost sight of the life of prayer, and continually sought relief from his official duties so he could live as a hermit. He encouraged people to live heroic lives of faith, especially through his own witness.
St. Peter Damian was declared a doctor of the Church, a title given to 37 saints who are known for elucidating the faith by their words or example. Some of his relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
St. Peter Damian, you urged others to live with heroic virtue by your own example—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Peter Damian is in the public domain. Last accessed December 6, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons.
