Daily Gospel Reflection
Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.
March 2, 2020
Jesus said to his disciples: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.
“Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’
“And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for me.’
“Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’
“Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for me.’
“And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Mercy is called by some the most divine-like of the virtues because the act of mercy is proper to God. God is infinitely rich and infinitely capable of generously supplying the needs of all creatures. For the human to act mercifully is to step into the divine role of free self-gift.
Given this divine-like quality of mercy, Jesus’s teaching about the judgment of the nations is quite shocking, not only in the sheer difficulty of the generosity required in order to inherit the kingdom but most especially for the reason why these merciful acts are the measure of entry. Jesus’ Incarnation extends to such a degree of self-emptying that he does not merely take on our frail human nature in general. He takes the lowest degree within the human race. He identifies himself with the most rejected and unacknowledged men and women so as to thoroughly permeate every corner of the human experience with his divinity.
He does not stop merely at identifying with the poor, though. His measure of judgment demands that every man and woman lean down as he has. His generous descent transforms and incorporates human generosity into the divine activity in an elevated way insofar as the one who resembles God in merciful generosity finds himself helping none other than the Son of God who has descended to the depths of humility.
Mercy then is divine on both the giving and receiving end. The giver manifests God’s superabundant generosity, and the receiver manifests Jesus’s total poverty for the sake of our salvation.
Therefore, both those who are poor in spirit and those who are merciful to the poor inherit the kingdom because the kingdom already dwells within them. They already participate in the divine life insofar as they allow the divine generosity to be present in their hearts through grace and manifest in their life through mercy.
Prayer
Lord of love, suffering abounds in our world. Give us true, merciful, and compassionate hearts that do not ignore the poor, sick, and ignorant, nor view them as the enemy. Give us your grace to live the commandment of love: to love our neighbor as ourselves, for what we do to them we do to Christ your Son. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Agnes was a contemporary follower of St. Clare and St. Francis, and was the first to spread their community north of the Alps.
She was daughter to king of Bohemia, and her mother was of royal lineage as well; Agnes’ cousin was St. Elizabeth of Hungary. According to the custom of the day, as a young girl, Agnes was betrothed several times for political alliances, and shuffled from monastery to monastery for education and training. Even at a young age, the life of the court wore thin for her, however, and she began to focus her thoughts and energy on God. Agnes cared for the sick in her role as princess, but privately also took on fasting and penances and would rise before dawn to visit churches for prayer and Mass.
She discovered a calling to dedicate herself to God and to remain a virgin, and prayed for the opportunity to do so, even though she was betrothed to the emperor, Frederick II. It took many years, and intervention from the pope himself, to make this desire a reality. In 1235, the emperor released her from their engagement.
Finally free at the age of 28, she more fully gave herself to serving God and the poor. She built monasteries and hospitals, and is particularly known for establishing the Franciscan community in the region around Prague. The people of her kingdom greatly supported that effort, and wanted to participate in building the monastery for the Poor Clares, but Agnes declined their monetary support. (It is said that the workers who were building the monastery would leave the site before the end of the day so that they could avoid being paid for their labors.)
When the Poor Clare convent was ready, Agnes joined the founding community. Soon, hundreds of others entered as well, and throughout Europe noble women followed her example.
Agnes followed the Franciscan way of humility and always sought the lowliest positions and tasks. St. Clare herself was a mentor to Agnes and the two exchanged letters. Agnes died on this date in 1282.
St. Agnes of Bohemia, you were the friend to St. Clare who spread the Franciscan way of humility through Europe—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Agnes of Bohemia is in the public domain. Last accessed February 6, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
