Daily Gospel Reflection
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February 5, 2020
Jesus left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded.
They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith.
The most humble woman I know is a stay-at-home mother to six children. She homeschools, wears unassuming clothing (mostly second-hand), and quietly goes about her daily work of loving her family. I have known her my entire life, but when I was in high school, I found out she used to work for NASA as a rocket scientist. I was shocked. She is so humble, holy and unassuming that it was hard for me to imagine her fast-paced career and intense intelligence. Most of my interactions with her had been so ordinary, similar to how I imagine the interactions of Jesus’ acquaintances with him in his hometown.
The majority of Jesus’ life looked unassuming, and today we hear in Mark how the people of Nazareth struggled to see how extraordinary their seemingly ordinary neighbor was. How frequently do we fail to see the depth in the people we are around most? Jesus came speaking truth and healing the sick, yet those who knew him from his childhood put up blinders that prevented them from seeing him as Christ. Similarly, do we shut out opportunities to receive truth and healing, just because it comes from an unassuming source?
The seemingly ordinary people in our lives are indeed the ones who can lead us to heaven if we allow ourselves to see Christ in those around us. In performing the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy to those ordinary people around us, we are sanctified in our everyday lives. Our co-workers, neighbors, and families provide daily opportunities to encounter Christ, but we must take off our blinders. In finding Christ in the ordinary, we open ourselves to the grace and healing offered in today’s gospel.
Who are these ordinary people in our lives and how can we see Christ in them?
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, give us today a faith to believe in you. You are the one sent by the Father to reconcile the world and to forgive us of our sins. Perfect our doubts, purify our lips, that we may only speak and act for your glory and praise. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Agatha is one of the most famous virgin martyrs in the Catholic tradition. Like many early saints, it can be difficult to know what aspects of her legend are historically accurate, but her witness to the faith is undoubtedly a source of ongoing inspiration for us today.
It is said that she was a young, beautiful girl from a rich and well-known family in the early Church. As young girl, she resolutely declared herself a Christian in the midst of a persecution and promised her life to God.
A Roman official who admired her beauty tried to blackmail her. He threatened to charge her as a Christian unless she consented to sex with him. She refused, so he placed her in a brothel. There, she denied customers, and was thrown into prison, where she was beaten and tortured.
None of this succeeded in turning her from her faith, and she was sent back to her cell without food or drink for four days. There, she was comforted by a vision of St. Peter, who filled her dungeon with heavenly light.
She was further tortured until death. One of the tortures she suffered was to have her breasts cut off, which is why she is patron against breast cancer.
St. Agatha is named in one of the Eucharistic prayers at Mass and her relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica. Her image was created by Matthew Alderman '06 and is used here with his permission. In it, she holds a smoldering bowl and a metal snipper. She is honored in Sicily because devotion to her has stopped eruptions of the nearby volcano, Mt. Etna. By extension, she is patron saint of guilds of bell makers, either because fire alarms use bells, or because the casting of a bell involves lava-like molten metal.
Her feast day is a major celebration for the people of Sicily, where she was martyred, both because of her protection and because she is an emblem of the people's struggle against Roman rule. The motto below her image reads, Mentem sanctam spontaneam, honorem Deo et patriae liberationem, which translates to, "A Saintly and spontaneous mind, love of God and liberation of the homeland."
St. Agatha, patron saint for protection from breast cancer and fire—pray for us!
Image Credit: Illustration by Notre Dame alumnus Matthew Alderman, who holds exclusive rights to the further distribution and publication of his art. Used here with permission.