Daily Gospel Reflection
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November 17, 2023
Jesus said to his disciples:
“As it was in the days of Noah,
so it will be in the days of the Son of Man;
they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage up to the day
that Noah entered the ark,
and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot:
they were eating, drinking, buying,
selling, planting, building;
on the day when Lot left Sodom,
fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all.
So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
On that day, someone who is on the housetop
and whose belongings are in the house
must not go down to get them,
and likewise one in the field
must not return to what was left behind.
Remember the wife of Lot.
Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it,
but whoever loses it will save it.
I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed;
one will be taken, the other left.
And there will be two women grinding meal together;
one will be taken, the other left.”
They said to him in reply, “Where, Lord?”
He said to them, “Where the body is,
there also the vultures will gather.”
Reflection
In today’s gospel, Jesus offers images of his second coming that struck me profoundly. The homeowner on a housetop will leave the contents of his house behind. Two women will grind meal; one taken and the other left.
As a mother of four young children, I’ve spent many moments of the last eight years feeding and procuring belongings for our family, as well as enforcing bedtimes and implementing schedules. These are the very tasks I’d likely be doing if Christ came again today.
Jesus’ examples prompt me to reflect: How often do I focus merely on completing my tasks for their own sake rather than orienting them to Christ Jesus?
My wise and wonderful spiritual director and friend is Sr. Mary Lynch, SSJ, who served for many years as rector of McGlinn Hall. She once shared with me this maxim from her congregation, the Sisters of St. Joseph: “Keep always before your eyes the end of your vocation.”
I’ve never forgotten Sr. Mary’s encouragement to set my sights on heaven. Yet I often feel the temptation to take a limited, temporal view of my daily responsibilities, to see each day as a laundry list of tasks to accomplish, even though I trust that each day is a gift, each responsibility has a holy purpose, and each moment can draw us closer to our infinite, loving God.
Jesus invites us to consider his second coming and, God willing, our eternal life in heaven with him. Knowing that we are headed to eternity, how will we spend our earthly days?
Prayer
Gracious God, there has to be more to life than an unceasing round of eating, drinking, marrying, building, sowing, reaping, buying, and selling. All these things ultimately have their origin in you, so it stands to reason that we should be able to find your presence in those activities. Through Jesus and your Spirit, grant us the graces and the insights needed to see your presence in the here and now of everyday life so that we will not be fatally surprised when your day finally does come. Amen.
Saint of the Day

Although she was a princess, St. Elizabeth of Hungary used her status to go to extraordinary lengths to relieve the suffering of the poor and sick. Her example inspired many other noblewomen and rulers to do the same
Elizabeth was born in 1207 to the royal family of Hungary, so, from her birth, was destined for a marriage that would seal a political alliance for Andrew, her father. Elizabeth was married to Louis of Thuringia at the age of 14. Although they were both quite young, Louis was a loving husband and the couple was very happy.
From very early on, Elizabeth demonstrated a firm commitment to a life of prayer and simplicity. Elizabeth rose in the middle of the night to pray, and was very generous with her resources even precious resources like her robes and royal ornamentation.
These activities caused some of Elizabeth's courtiers to criticize her piety, but Louis only supported her works of mercy. The most famous story about Elizabeth demonstrates Elizabeth's secret works of charity and Louis' whole-hearted support of her. One day, Elizabeth was carrying bread from the palace out to the poor of the town, when she happened to encounter Louis returning from the hunt with a large band of men. Louis' courtiers sneered at Elizabeth for stealing from the royal treasury, so Louis asked her to reveal what she was carrying in her cloak. When Elizabeth opened it, instead of bread, roses fell out, a clear sign in Louis' eyes that Elizabeth was doing the work of God.

In 1225, Louis and Elizabeth's kingdom was struck by famine, and Elizabeth responded by exhausting her own funds and her family’s store of corn in support of the hungry. For many years later, Elizabeth's subjects reported that during the famine Elizabeth fed more than 1,000 people every day. Elizabeth took special care of orphans, and was prudent with her support of the poor, employing anyone who could work.
The castle that Elizabeth lived in was built high on a steep outcropping, and the road to it was steep and rocky—the people there called the path the “knee-smasher.” The sick and elderly were not able to approach it and receive her help, so she built a hospital at the foot of the path, and she even worked there herself, feeding people, making beds, and attending to their needs with her own hands.
After six years of marriage, Louis left on a crusade to Jerusalem but died from the plague while on the journey. Elizabeth was inconsolable when she heard the news, repeating over and over: “He is dead. He is dead. It is to me as if the whole world died today.”
Louis’ death put Elizabeth's position in the court in a precarious position, but Elizabeth refused to remarry, and thus she fell from power. Her family made arrangements to support her and her children, and Elizabeth withdrew from the life of the nobility to pursue holiness as a chaste widow.
For some time, Elizabeth had a stern priest as a spiritual mentor, Conrad of Marburg. After Louis’ death, the priest was given much more power to direct Elizabeth’s life. He may have had good intentions, but he was very strict and deprived Elizabeth of anything that might bring her joy, even beating her for infringements.
She remained humble, and clung to her prayer and support of the poor. When she had the opportunity to return to the royal court of her parents, she refused, wanting to stay near her children, the grave of her husband, and the poor whom she loved. Though she had very little, she continued to give what she had to those who suffered—even fishing in streams to be able to sell her catch to support families who had nothing.
Elizabeth fell ill and died on November 17, 1231, at the age of 24. Her holiness was apparent to everyone, and she was proclaimed a saint just four years later. Her life had a great influence on other noble women who sought to imitate her holiness—St. Hedwig, St. Agnes of Bohemia and St. Judith, among others. Some relics of St. Elizabeth rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Notre Dame's campus. She is depicted in the Basilica in both images featured in this biography.
St. Elizabeth of Hungary, friend of the poor and peaceful ruler—pray for us!
To learn even more about Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, watch this video lecture from the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame.