Daily Gospel Reflection
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June 5, 2020
While Jesus was teaching in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, declared: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.”’
“David himself calls him Lord; so how can he be his son?” And the large crowd was listening to him with delight.
Unprecedented. Before March, when was the last time we used this word? Now, every restaurant, brand, or airline I have ever frequented is letting me know they are “with me” during these unprecedented times. Even Notre Dame, my beloved alma mater and current employer, took the prudent step of postponing my five-year reunion which my classmates and I would be celebrating this weekend, under normal circumstances.
It’s true – our communities are facing uncertain times. And in these times, trust is more important than ever. But it is trust in God’s ultimate direction and guidance, rather than trust in human institutions and norms.
“Sit at my right hand, until I put enemies under your feet.” We often speak about calls to action, but this message is a call to trust, to faith.
It can be easy to adopt an achievement mentality; it can be more satisfying when we think about a call from God as a task to complete. Really, this is just simplifying God’s calling into a checklist that we can handle. It’s a way of avoiding what God is actually calling us to do: to trust, to follow, and to believe.
Ultimately what God is calling us to in this passage is to believe in God – to recognize who the messiah actually is. At first glance, this may feel like a simpler call, but it is a call that involves our whole self and consumes our entire life.
Prayer
Dear Lord, as we go about our homes and work, let us bring your presence with us. Let us speak your peace, your grace, your mercy, and your perfect order to all we meet. Give us a fresh supply of strength to do our work. May even our smallest accomplishments bring you glory. When we are confused, guide us. When we are burned out, infuse us with the light of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Boniface is known as the “Apostle of Germany” for his tremendous missionary efforts spreading the faith through that region of Europe during the Dark Ages.
He was born in England in 680, and baptized with the name Winfrid. At the age of 5, he had his first encounter with educated monks when several visited his home. When he heard them speak, he knew he wanted an education as well, and his parents let him go to school at a nearby monastery. When he exhausted that place’s resources for learning, he moved to a bigger monastery, and in time, was named director of the school there.
He was a gifted teacher and had an attractive personality, and was ordained a priest at the age of 30. He felt a calling from God to spread the faith as a missionary, and received permission to travel to mainland Europe, which was dominated by pagan religions. He left in the spring of 716 with two others, but immediately discovered that the rulers of the area where he landed were actively persecuting Christians.
He returned to his monastery in England, but still felt called to serve as a missionary--though the monks there tried to elect him abbot so he would stay. He traveled to Rome to have this calling confirmed by the pope, who gave him an official commission and changed his name to Boniface. From there he traveled to Germany, where he journeyed among the people and evangelized them.
In one area, it is said that he decided to strike at the root of the people’s pagan beliefs. He announced that he would cut down an oak tree considered sacred to the gods believed in by the people. Crowds gathered to watch, expecting him to be struck down for this act of blasphemy. He felled the oak, which shattered into four pieces. The people acknowledged that their gods had no power, and many converted.
Boniface went on to systematically evangelize central Germany, founding churches, establishing dioceses, and organizing the hierarchy. He also began a number of monasteries as centers of learning and faith, and encouraged monks and nuns from England to live in them. A number of saints found their way to heaven by joining his work.
The Church in what is now France was in a terrible state at that time—clerical offices were being sold to the highest bidder, the clergy themselves were ignorant and immoral, and the king plundered the Church coffers to pay for his wars. When the king died, Boniface capitalized on the opportunity—he convinced the successors, who were faithful Christians, to help reform the Church, which reinvigorated the faithful there.
He retired at the age of 73 and handed over the leadership of all he had founded. This did not slow him down from evangelizing, however—he returned to the mission fields, finding new people who had not encountered the Gospel. One evening, his encampment was attacked by pagans, and he was the first killed.
St. Boniface is said to have had a deeper influence on the history of Europe than any Englishman ever. Even his contemporaries recognized him as a holy man—he was simple, yet had great insight and power as a missionary and reformer. The relics of St. Boniface rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
St. Boniface, martyr who planted the Church in Germany—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Bonfiace is in the public domain. Last accessed March 18, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
