Daily Gospel Reflection
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February 8, 2022
When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem
gathered around Jesus,
they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals
with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands.
(For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews,
do not eat without carefully washing their hands,
keeping the tradition of the elders.
And on coming from the marketplace
they do not eat without purifying themselves.
And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed,
the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds.)
So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him,
“Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders
but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?”
He responded,
“Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites,
as it is written:
This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
In vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines human precepts.
You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.”
He went on to say,
“How well you have set aside the commandment of God
in order to uphold your tradition!
For Moses said,
Honor your father and your mother,
and Whoever curses father or mother shall die.
Yet you say,
‘If someone says to father or mother,
“Any support you might have had from me is qorban”’
(meaning, dedicated to God),
you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother.
You nullify the word of God
in favor of your tradition that you have handed on.
And you do many such things.”
Recently, my brother and I attended a performance of The Dialogues of the Carmelites by Francis Poulenc. Based on a novella by Gertrud von Fort, this opera powerfully portrays the events leading up to the martyrdom of sixteen Carmelites nuns during the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror.
In the climactic moments of the arrest, sham trial, and execution by guillotine of her sisters, the most ardent proponent of martyrdom, Sr. Marie of the Incarnation, is away from the convent and forbidden to rejoin them. Only two years prior, Sr. Marie had led her sisters in the act of consecration to martyrdom for the salvation of France.
Now, finally, at the consummation of this offering, Sr. Marie—the very one who proposed to her sisters that they offer themselves to God as martyrs—by the turn of Providence, must accept the mortification of continued life. Grappling with this surrender, she exclaims, “It is harder to live than to die! Life is more difficult than death!”
Although few of us will face the extreme surrender of Sr. Marie, we are all called to this same stance of abandonment. As Jesus admonishes the Pharisees in today’s gospel, we, too, are to seek God’s commandment—God’s will—above all things.
In the early stages of our journey with Jesus and his Church, seeking God’s will may lead us to root out the lies we believe as we grapple with the teachings of the Church in one area or another. As we grow, we will discover more and more seeking God’s will means letting go of our ideas and living in complete surrender.
Although dramatic moments of surrender like Sr. Marie’s rarely occur, the everyday moments of submission to God’s will prepare us and bear great spiritual fruit in the hands of God.
How are we being called today to surrender ourselves more and more to God’s will?
“O my Jesus, I surrender myself to you in everything, take care of everything.” (The Surrender Novena)
Prayer
God, bring our hearts close to you. There is much in this world that makes us feel steady and in control, but we know that ultimately our strength will fail and our grasp on the things in our lives will not stand the test of time. Only you, Lord, are unmoving, solid and sure.
And yet, you give us an example that is flexible and open, a witness that loves through thick and thin and will not become calcified or rigid. Soften our hearts to love in that way and bring our hearts close to you. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Josephine Bakhita is a heroic saint who endured the horrors of slavery with bravery before she escaped into freedom through the group of religious sisters she joined.
Josephine was born around 1869 in Darfur (now part of western Sudan). Her family was part of the powerful Daju people (after whom Darfur is named). Her uncle was the leader of their village, and Josephine was surrounded by a loving, prosperous family during her early years.
When Josephine was eight, her life took a tragic turn when she was snatched by slave traders and brought to El Obeid, a large city in central Sudan.
She reported in her autobiography that the trauma of her abduction caused her to forget her own life. The traders gave her the ironic name Bakhita (from the Arabic word barak, meaning blessed), hoping her name suggesting good fortune and luck would attract potential buyers.
Bakhita, as she was now known, was bought by an Arab to be a chambermaid for his daughters. During this period, her enslaver's son once broke into a rage and beat her so severely she was unable to walk for over a month.
Bakhita was sold to other owners who treated her with unspeakable, inhumane cruelty. In her autobiography, she recounts some of the horrendous customs of beating and scarring slaves which she endured.
In 1883, Bakhita was sold to a new owner—the Italian Consul to Sudan, Callisto Legnani. When he had to return to Italy, he brought Bakhita with him and gave her to the Michieli family. Bakhita was a faithful nanny to the Michieli family’s young daughter.
In the fall of 1888, Bakhita and her young charge went to stay with the Canossian Sisters in Venice while the rest of the family was away on business. While staying with the Canossians, Bakhita encountered Christianity the first time. The kind sisters instructed Bakhita in the Christian faith. When the Michieli family returned to bring back Bakhita to Sudan, Bakhita refused to go. The Michielis appealed to the courts, who upheld Bakhita’s freedom.
Shortly thereafter, Bakhita was baptized and received the new name of Josephine in 1890. Three years later, she entered the Canossian novitiate. After a life spent in being uprooted, Josephine was assigned to the Canossian convent in Schio and remained there for forty-two years, throughout all of World War II.
When asked later by one of her students what she would do if she met one of her captors or former owners, Josephine responded:
“If I were to meet those who kidnapped me, and even those who tortured me, I would kneel and kiss their hands. For, if these things had not happened, I would not have been a Christian and a religious today.”
Remarking on Josephine Bakhita’s remarkable love and forgiveness, Pope Benedict XVI, in his encyclical Spe Salvi ("In Hope We Are Saved"), attributed Sr. Josephine's hope and love to her hope in God’s love for her. St. Josephine knew that whatever happened to her, she would be, at the end of her life, greeted by the love who made her.
Immediately after her death on February 8, 1947, the people of Schio began to petition for the canonization of their beloved Madre Moretta or "little black mother." On October 1, 2000, Pope John Paul II canonized Josephine Bakhita; she has since become the patron saint of Sudan and of the victims of human trafficking.
St. Josephine Bakhita, whose love and hope transformed the wounds of slavery into forgiveness and freedom—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Josephine Bakhita is in the public domain. Last accessed January 23, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
