Daily Gospel Reflection

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June 6, 2020

Saturday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Mk 12:38-44
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As Jesus taught, he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a few cents. Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

Reflection

Barney King ’70
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At a superficial level, today’s gospel reflects messages about status and money. Continuing themes expressed earlier in Mark, Jesus takes the scribe class to task for their sense of self-satisfaction, self-entitlement, and self-importance, condemning their pious appearances at odds with their rapacious behaviors. In sharp contrast, the widow, Jesus notes, contributed, in a non-demonstrative way, most, if not all, of her financial resources.

As we look back over the past few months, the world has changed in so many ways. Covid-19 has caused us to stay at home, to self-isolate, to socially distance. Cancellations of “normal” (that is, what used to be normal) activities have involved businesses, schools, athletic events, and gatherings. Indeed, my ND Class (1970) had to postpone our 50th reunion, which we would have been celebrating this weekend, due to the pandemic. While I am missing the opportunity to see and engage with my classmates, to me the larger issues overwhelm those minor inconveniences.

Millions of people have no jobs and thousands of people have died around the world due to the virus, friends and acquaintances included.

While the virus has not recognized race, religious belief, or regional geography in its overwhelming spread, deaths seem to have affected the sicker and the disadvantaged in greater proportions. Further, many of those attending to the sick have – as the widow – given everything, including their lives.

Then, George Floyd’s death compounded our nation’s pain, illustrating – again – that equality of birth as God’s children does not equate to equality in life and justice.
Coincidentally, today is also the 76th anniversary of D-Day. Thousands of individuals – soldiers and civilians, of multiple nations, races and creeds – invaded Europe in the name of liberation from tyranny.

As we contemplate the Gospel message today, I believe we are called to a recognition of the equality of all people and a firm, active commitment to life, liberty, and justice.

Prayer

Rev. Ralph Haag, C.S.C.

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. Norbert

St. Norbert turned away from a self-serving life through a dramatic conversion experience, and went on to become a great reformer of the Church.

He was born in Germany in 1080 to royal parents. As a young man, he sought priesthood as an ambitious career move, and began preparations for ordination, even though he was only interested in a life of pleasures.

He was out riding one day when he was caught in a thunderstorm and tossed by his horse. He lay on the ground paralyzed for an hour. His first words when he awoke were the same as St. Paul’s after his famous conversion: “Lord, what will you have me do?” A voice answered, “Turn from evil and do good: seek after peace and pursue it.”

Immediately he changed his life. He returned to the court and gave his life to prayer and fasting. He finished his preparation for the priesthood and was ordained. He took on the life of a wandering preacher, encouraging conversion in the court where he lived, but the people there thought him hypocritical. In return, he sold all of his land and goods, keeping only a small bit of money, a mule (which soon died), and the things he needed to celebrate Mass.

He met with the pope, who gave him permission to preach wherever he chose. He set out on a mission to preach, and started to gather around him others who were impressed by his conversion and commitment to the faith.

Church leaders drew on his leadership to reform monastic communities that had grown lax in their observance. Norbert, himself, started a community in an abandoned monastery, and their numbers grew such that other monasteries were established.

While visiting a town in Germany, Norbert was chosen as bishop of that town by popular acclaim from the community’s leaders, but as he approached his new rectory, the doorman turned him away, thinking he was a beggar because he was dressed so humbly. As bishop, he asserted a reform of the Church, which was met with resistance, but Norbert persisted.

Late in his life, he was drawn into a crisis in which disputed popes claimed to have been elected, and his influence was a great help in resolving the matter. All of his work had exhausted him, however—he had only been ordained 20 years when he died on this date at the age of 53.

Along with St. Bernard of Clairvaux, St. Norbert stands as a great reforming saint of the time whose influence led people to holiness for generations. St. Norbert’s relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.

St. Norbert, your dramatic conversion experience helped you lead the Church to greater faithfulness—pray for us!


Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Norbert is in the public domain. Last accessed March 18, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.