Daily Gospel Reflection
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January 4, 2021
When Jesus heard that John had been arrested,
he withdrew to Galilee.
He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea,
in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali,
that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet
might be fulfilled:
Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles,
the people who sit in darkness
have seen a great light,
on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death
light has arisen.
From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say,
“Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
He went around all of Galilee,
teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,
and curing every disease and illness among the people.
His fame spread to all of Syria,
and they brought to him all who were sick with various diseases
and racked with pain,
those who were possessed, lunatics, and paralytics,
and he cured them.
And great crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, and Judea,
and from beyond the Jordan followed him.
When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he got up, left home, and started his ministry. He recognized John’s arrest as the time when he needed to begin the work that God had set before him. The first line that he says in this capacity is, “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” This is the exact same line that John the Baptist uses earlier in the Gospel of Matthew when prepares the way of the Lord and announces Jesus as the one who is to come (3:2).
What are the events in our lives that are catalysts for great change? I think that all of us have times when we realize that we need to make a move, start something big, or change what we are doing in a fundamental way. Career changes, the birth of a child, or the death of a parent can all be catalysts in this way.
In a smaller way, the beginning of each new year can be an opportunity for us to begin anew. We know this through the common practice of setting New Year’s resolutions. Exercise and diet resolutions are the most common… and the most easily broken. The interesting thing about these resolutions is that they usually focus on ourselves. Today’s gospel shows us that Jesus resolves to do something new in his life, but he does it for the good of all humankind.
It doesn’t always take a major event for us to change our lives. The Gospel of Christ is always calling us to continual conversion. In this new year, perhaps the greatest resolution we could make would be to take seriously Jesus’ words in today’s gospel: “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Prayer
Heavenly Father, you sent your Son as a Light to all people living in darkness and under the shadow of death. Open our minds and hearts so that we might hear and answer Jesus’ call to conversion in our lives. May we know the healing and mercy that Jesus came to bring, and may we take up our part in proclaiming the Good News of your kingdom to everyone we meet. We ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was the first native-born citizen of the United States to be canonized.
Born Elizabeth Bayley, today's saint was born in 1774 and came of age with our young nation during the tumultuous years of the American Revolution. The Bayley's were part of New York City high society, and Elizabeth was raised with all the comforts of a young heiress. In 1794, Elizabeth married a wealthy man named William Seton and their first years were full of happiness. The memory of that happiness would remain with Elizabeth in the hard years ahead.
William’s father suddenly died, and the young couple took on the care of William’s seven brothers and sisters. Soon after, William’s business failed and he contracted tuberculosis. In a desperate move to save William, they sailed to Italy for a warmer climate, where William had business partners, but he died there.
Elizabeth had a life-long love of Scripture, and the Word of God sustained her in these difficult years of her early widowhood. It was during her time in Italy that she awakened to Catholicism—especially the Eucharist—and she began taking instruction in the faith there. In 1805 she joined the Church, alienating many of her Episcopalian family members.
To support her family as a widow, and to provide for the education of her five small children, Elizabeth opened a school. At the invitation of Archbishop John Carroll and with the help of two other women, she opened a school in Maryland, one of the first free Catholic schools in America.
The small community was known as the Sisters of Charity and they adopted a common rule of life, which made an allowance for Elizabeth to continue to raise her children. Over time, the community would grow to six groups of nuns and grew rapidly, establishing many other orphanages and schools throughout the United States.
Elizabeth herself contracted tuberculosis but continued to guide her five children through her illness. She died at the age of 46 in 1821, after only sixteen years as a Catholic. Elizabeth was canonized in 1975 by Pope Paul VI, the first native-born United States citizen to be canonized.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is the patron saint of widows, the state of Maryland, and of Catholic Schools. A statue of St. Elizabeth sits in the Knott Hall Chapel on Notre Dame's campus. The Notre Dame Archives in the Hesburgh Library collects and maintains records that document the life of the Catholic Church and her people as lived in the American context—which includes material from St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, patron saint of Catholic schools in the United States—pray for us!