Daily Gospel Reflection

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February 25, 2024

Second Sunday of Lent
Mk 9:2-10
Listen to the Audio Version

Jesus took Peter, James, and John
and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves.
And he was transfigured before them,
and his clothes became dazzling white,
such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.
Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses,
and they were conversing with Jesus.
Then Peter said to Jesus in reply,
“Rabbi, it is good that we are here!
Let us make three tents:
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified.
Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them;
from the cloud came a voice,
“This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”
Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone
but Jesus alone with them.

As they were coming down from the mountain,
he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone,
except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
So they kept the matter to themselves,
questioning what rising from the dead meant.

Reflection

Deborah A. Dell '76
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Today’s gospel reminds me of the dogma of the Trinity, a fundamental belief of Christianity. The presence of the three representative disciples— Peter, James, and John—and the conversation between Jesus, Moses, and Elijah brought to mind the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

It led me to ponder the use of the number three throughout the Bible as noteworthy figures, events, and ideas, as it is represented in so many aspects of our religious doctrines. Three represents fullness and an unbreakable completeness. As Ecclesiastes says, “Where one alone may be overcome, two together can resist. A three-ply cord is not easily broken.”

Take a moment and think about it. The sacred Scriptures refer to three Archangels—Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael—each of whom have different, essential roles in the history of salvation. Our salvation through our membership in the Church is initiated by the first three of the seven sacraments—Baptism, First Confession, and First Communion. At each, we are asked to accept God into our lives. In surrendering our hearts, we become complete with God and better understand God’s omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence.

Such completeness lends itself to the union of our mind, body, and soul. Don’t you find that when you are at peace with yourself, you deal better with the one element over which we have little control—time? Whether the past, present, future, birth, life, or death, inner peace can provide us insight, understanding, and a sense of harmony.

Just as the disciples wanted to set up tents for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, this peace fosters in us the desire to do something for others to express our love. May we go into the world and show the completeness of the Trinity in action by our love.

Prayer

Rev. Brad Metz, C.S.C.

God of wisdom and truth, make yourself known to us and to all people, as the one God, living and true. Affirm your truth in our lives so that we may be witnesses of your unchanging presence and shine with your glory. May the life and teachings of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, be our salvation and guide. Amen.

Saint of the Day

St. Walburga

Even though she lived in the eighth century, St. Walburga’s legacy continues to have a physically healing presence today in two ways: the community of Benedictine nuns that she established in Europe were one of the main branches of sisters who came to serve in America, and her relics emit a kind of oil that pilgrims seek as an aid to healing.

She was an Englishwoman, the daughter of St. Richard the Pilgrim, and sister to St. Willibald and St. Winebald. She was educated at a monastery in England, and that is where she professed her religious vows.

St. Boniface, the great “Apostle of Germany,” was uncle to these holy siblings, and when he left England to evangelize the German people, he took St. Walburga’s brothers with him. Later, he wanted to establish convents in Germany and asked missionary nuns from England to join him there. Walburga was among those who left her home to preach the good news on the continent. She studied medicine and brought those skills to the people she served.

She was also well-educated and literate, and wrote of her brothers’ lives and experiences on pilgrimage to the Holy Land with their father, Richard. Because of this, she is known as the first female author of either Germany or England.

Her brother, Winebald, founded double monasteries—one for monks and another for nuns—and asked her to lead the convent. When he died some years later, she was appointed abbess of both houses by her other brother, Willibald, who had been appointed bishop of that region.

Walburga died on this date in 779. Her relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.

The main body of her relics rest on a rock in a church in Bavaria, and a kind of oil flows from an opening in the rock under her relics. It is an aromatic watery fluid, and even today people have experienced cures through its use and the intercession of St. Walburga. The oil flows for a period of time between Oct. 12 through Feb. 25—two landmark days in the saint’s life.

St. Walburga, you were the nun who left her homeland to bring healing and learning to others—pray for us!


Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Walburga is in the public domain. Last accessed December 6, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons.