Daily Gospel Reflection
Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.
June 5, 2021
In the course of his teaching Jesus said,
“Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes
and accept greetings in the marketplaces,
seats of honor in synagogues,
and places of honor at banquets.
They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext,
recite lengthy prayers.
They will receive a very severe condemnation.”
He sat down opposite the treasury
and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury.
Many rich people put in large sums.
A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents.
Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them,
“Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more
than all the other contributors to the treasury.
For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth,
but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had,
her whole livelihood.”
Klank! Klank! The two small coins of love.
I experienced the two small coins of love in my mother. One of nine children in a post-World War II era, my mind counts the pouring out of her last physical and emotional coins doing wash, cooking meals, keeping schedules, drying tears, and participating in the lives of her children, all while Dad worked two jobs. In retrospect, Rosie the Riveter, the World War II icon, had nothing on my mother!
Besides spending every last bit of energy in the household, she literally turned the piggy bank upside down for the few coins left in it. Why? So her children had spending money, like the other children, for the parish “Fall Fiesta.” That is selfless love. That is the widow in today’s gospel.
In one way or another we all experience poverty whether it is physical, emotional, psychological or spiritual. Jesus invites us to give of our very beings, not just the abundance of material goods that we accumulate. Jesus invites us to sacrificial love. Jesus asks us to use our talents, our treasures for the sake of others, in his name. What will be your small coins in the container of love today?
Prayer
Almighty Father, you are the strength of those who hope in you. Hear our prayers and grant us the help of your grace so that wherever we are and whatever we do today we might we acknowledge you as our Lord. Help us to labor on your behalf, so that we may find favor with you and all may confess you as Lord over all. 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.
