Daily Gospel Reflection
Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.
March 17, 2022
Jesus said to the Pharisees:
“There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen
and dined sumptuously each day.
And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,
who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps
that fell from the rich man’s table.
Dogs even used to come and lick his sores.
When the poor man died,
he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham.
The rich man also died and was buried,
and from the netherworld, where he was in torment,
he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off
and Lazarus at his side.
And he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me.
Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue,
for I am suffering torment in these flames.’
Abraham replied, ‘My child,
remember that you received what was good during your lifetime
while Lazarus likewise received what was bad;
but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented.
Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established
to prevent anyone from crossing
who might wish to go from our side to yours
or from your side to ours.’
He said, ‘Then I beg you, father, send him
to my father’s house,
for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them,
lest they too come to this place of torment.’
But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets.
Let them listen to them.’
He said, ‘Oh no, father Abraham,
but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
Then Abraham said,
‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded
if someone should rise from the dead.’”
I do not own a single piece of purple clothing. It’s just not my color. Reading the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus during this season of preparation, the purple of the rich man’s garments stands out to me.
Purple evokes a lot of things: wealth, nobility, extravagance, a certain zest for life. It’s relatively rare in nature, but springtime brings us irises, asters, and if we’re fortunate, martins. Purple is a beauty conceived in the eye and mind and love of God.
What we humans make of it can be another story.
During Lent, purple is a vivid invitation to contemplate our lives and sins. What are the chasms that yet separate us from God? How far will we go to ensure our comfort at the expense of what we might share of our time, our resources—ourselves—with others who need these things?
Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving do not seem to preoccupy the rich man in life, and he enters the netherworld unprepared for what awaits him. We know these activities, modeled by Moses and extolled by the prophets, to be the best means we have for detaching ourselves from the things of this world and reconnecting with the Lord. Deep within us, we may feel we should practice them all the time, but at the very least, we return to them in the seasons of preparation and waiting.
For what are we preparing? It can’t just be for Easter, as high a feast and joyous a celebration as it is. In telling this story, Jesus was, of course, speaking not of poor Lazarus’ rising but of his own resurrection and of our part in receiving his overflowing gift of mercy and salvation–not just on one pleasant Sunday each spring, but for eternity. And the Pharisees, “who loved money,” Luke writes, hated him for it.
Have we listened to Moses and the prophets? Are we persuaded by Jesus’ resurrection?
Prayer
Loving God, we ask the help of your Spirit to keep us from using our poor brothers and sisters to maintain our own comfort. Compel employers among us to provide living wages to all we employ. Constrain our greed and expand our awareness that we are all one in you, whether rich or poor. Give us the grace to do all we can to assure that the needs of all who are your special favorites – the ones who we most often ignore- are met. We ask for the compassion and justice of Jesus, Your Son and Our Lord. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Patrick is one of the Catholic Church’s most famous saints. His story is one of deep personal faithfulness, which led him to the edge of the known world where he evangelized the whole of Ireland.
Patrick was born in 389 to parents who were Roman officials helping to govern far-flung colonies of the Roman empire in the British Isles. He was kidnapped when he was a teenager and sold as a slave to a chieftain in Ireland, where he tended sheep. He would spend his days in the mountains, and he came to rely on God through prayer.
He would even stay late in the wilderness to continue his prayer. “Constantly I used to pray in the daytime. Love of God … increased more and more, and my faith grew and my spirit was stirred up,” he wrote. “I prayed in the woods and on the mountain, even before dawn. I felt no hurt from the snow or ice or rain."
After six years of servitude, he heard voices in a dream that told him to prepare for a difficult journey. He took the dream as a sign and ran away from his captors, covering 200 miles to reach the coast of Ireland. There, he joined a ship that was headed for the European mainland.
The ship reached land in a desolate place and Patrick and the sailors wandered for months, looking for civilization. At one point, they ran out of provisions and were on the brink of starvation. The sailors ridiculed Patrick for being a Christian who believed in a loving God, who apparently was allowing him to die of starvation.
“Turn in good faith and with all your heart to the Lord my God, to whom nothing is impossible,” Patrick replied, “that this day God may send you food in your journey until you are satisfied, for God has abundance everywhere.” A herd of pigs suddenly appeared and the party had more than enough to eat.
They finally reached safety, and Patrick was eventually reunited with his family. They were overjoyed at his return and tried to make him promise to stay with them. Patrick was touched by the people he had come to know in Ireland, however, and voices returned to his dreams, telling him, “We beg you, holy youth, to come and walk among us once more.”
Patrick resolved to follow this call and left home. He first studied at several monasteries and was ordained a priest, and then a bishop, before being sent as a missionary to Ireland because of his knowledge of the language and customs of the people there.
As he began his ministry in Ireland, Patrick returned to the mountain on which he used to pray as a young shepherd, where he fasted and prayed for 40 days. There he had a vision of the vast multitude of holy people that this land would produce, thanks to his efforts, and this vision gave him consolation and strength to face the many difficulties and challenges ahead.
In Ireland, Patrick made his way among the different clans and kingdoms, confronting paganism. He asked the leaders of Ireland to come together at Tara, the ancient seat of power on the island. There, he preached the Gospel and overcame the signs and magic of the druid pagan priests with the story of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Historical records confirm that some agreement was made there that allowed Patrick to continue his preaching.
The high king of Ireland was not converted, but members of his household were, which afforded Patrick some protection. Still, he faced much opposition and many threats to his life.
“Daily I expect either a violent death or to be robbed and reduced to slavery or the occurrence of some such calamity,” he wrote. “I have cast myself into the hands of the almighty God, for God rules everything. As the prophet says, ‘Cast your care upon the Lord, and God will sustain you.’”
At one point, his chariot driver, St. Odhran, was assassinated by a spear intended for Patrick.
Thanks to Patrick’s evangelization the Gospel spread through Ireland rapidly. He overthrew local idols and built churches on those spots, and he gathered many followers and helpers around him. In 444, a cathedral was erected in Armagh, and that became a center of learning and the primary place of leadership for the Church in Ireland.
People who came into contact with Patrick had a deep impression that he cared for them and loved God intensely. In about 30 years, Patrick converted the whole of Ireland to Christianity, baptizing and confirming thousands. Ireland became known as the “land of the saints” and its monasteries saved much of Europe’s learning during the Dark Ages—all thanks to Patrick.
Patrick died on this date and was buried where he built his first church in Ireland. Our featured image today shows him depicted in stained glass in the special collections reading room in the Hesburgh Library. The other stained glass window and statue are from Dillon Hall. St. Patrick’s relics rest in the reliquary chapel.
St. Patrick, apostle of Ireland—pray for us!
Personalize and share prayers to St. Patrick with three digital prayer card options. Find them on FaithND at this link.