Daily Gospel Reflection

Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.

June 2, 2023

Friday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Mk 11:11-26
Listen to the Audio Version

Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple area.
He looked around at everything and, since it was already late,
went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

The next day as they were leaving Bethany he was hungry.
Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf,
he went over to see if he could find anything on it.
When he reached it he found nothing but leaves;
it was not the time for figs.
And he said to it in reply, “May no one ever eat of your fruit again!”
And his disciples heard it.

They came to Jerusalem,
and on entering the temple area
he began to drive out those selling and buying there.
He overturned the tables of the money changers
and the seats of those who were selling doves.
He did not permit anyone to carry anything through the temple area.
Then he taught them saying, “Is it not written:

My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples?
But you have made it a den of thieves.

The chief priests and the scribes came to hear of it
and were seeking a way to put him to death,
yet they feared him
because the whole crowd was astonished at his teaching.
When evening came, they went out of the city.

Early in the morning, as they were walking along,
they saw the fig tree withered to its roots.
Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look!
The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”
Jesus said to them in reply, “Have faith in God.
Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain,
‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’
and does not doubt in his heart
but believes that what he says will happen,
it shall be done for him.
Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer,
believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours.
When you stand to pray,
forgive anyone against whom you have a grievance,
so that your heavenly Father may in turn
forgive you your transgressions.”

Reflection

Tracy Kulwicki
Associate Director, EMBA Admissions, Mendoza College of Business
Share a Comment

On initial glance, this gospel passage feels like a peak into the life of Jesus on a day when he was not at his best. In the morning, he yelled at a tree because it had no breakfast to offer him. His poor attitude continued as he arrived at the temple courts, flipping tables and ordering people to leave.

The following day in an attempt to explain it all, he told his disciples that if their faith was sincere, they could order mountains to fling themselves into the sea, and the mountains would obey.

I’ve certainly been “hangry” enough at various times in my life to understand the desire to yell at trees without fruit and become annoyed at everyone I encounter. Yet I don’t think this is a story of how Jesus acted on a day without enough food.

Everything Jesus says and does throughout his life is an example and a lesson. Yelling at a tree that’s not bearing fruit and clearing out the temple are related stories meant to teach us what genuine faith looks like.

From a distance, the fig tree looked promising with its bushy leaves, but up close, Jesus found that it offered nothing of substance. The temple courts were meant to be a house of prayer for all people to find joy and worship God. And yet it had been turned into a marketplace full of corruption and distraction.

Genuine faith has great potential—the potential to order mountains into the sea. Yet more often, our faith is more like a bushy tree that looks promising but offers no breakfast or a busy marketplace that draws people away from their true purpose. Our faith needs substance.

When we actively live out our faith, following the example of Jesus, God will work through us to bear much fruit for his kingdom.

Prayer

Rev. Andrew Gawrych, C.S.C.

Lord, you teach us that faith can move mountains and bear fruit of justice and peace in our world. But faced with all the troubles in our world and in our own lives, it is so easy to give into doubt and despair, wondering what difference we could ever make. Renew our faith in you and your power working through us, so that through our faith we may become part of your response to all the many prayers of our broken world. Amen.

Saint of the Day

Sts. Marcellinus and Peter, Martyrs

Sts. Peter and Marcellinus were both martyrs from the early Church who are still honored today in the Eucharistic prayer that we offer at Mass.

Marcellinus was a well-known priest, and Peter was an exorcist—they lived during the persecution of Christians under the Roman emperor Diocletian at the start of the fourth century. They were arrested and jailed for being Christians.

In prison, they continued to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, which converted some of the prisoners, and even their guard (along with his wife and daughter). They were condemned to death by beheading, and were killed and buried in an unmarked place in the forest so that the Christian community could not honor their remains. Their executioner, who later became Christian himself, told of their location, however, and their bodies were found and placed in the catacombs.

The wall painting pictured here stood above their remains in the Roman catacombs—it shows Christ with the apostles, Peter and Paul, and below stand four saints. The middle of those four figures are inscribed with the names of the martyrs, Marcellinus and Peter.

Pope St. Damasus heard the story of their death from this executioner, and created an inscription for their tombs. Later, Constantine built a basilica over their remains—it is where his mother, St. Helen, was buried. These two saints are honored in the Eucharistic prayer, and there is strong evidence that they were very important saints for the early Christian Church.

The bodies of Sts. Marcellinus and Peter were moved at several points through the ages, and ended up in a monastery in Germany. Relics of the martyr, St. Peter, also rest in the Basilica in the reliquary chapel.

Sts. Marcellinus and Peter, your imprisonment and death sentence did not dampen your zeal—pray for us!