Daily Gospel Reflection
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November 18, 2020
While people were listening to Jesus speak,
he proceeded to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem
and they thought that the Kingdom of God
would appear there immediately.
So he said,
“A nobleman went off to a distant country
to obtain the kingship for himself and then to return.
He called ten of his servants and gave them ten gold coins
and told them, ‘Engage in trade with these until I return.’
His fellow citizens, however, despised him
and sent a delegation after him to announce,
‘We do not want this man to be our king.’
But when he returned after obtaining the kingship,
he had the servants called, to whom he had given the money,
to learn what they had gained by trading.
The first came forward and said,
‘Sir, your gold coin has earned ten additional ones.’
He replied, ‘Well done, good servant!
You have been faithful in this very small matter;
take charge of ten cities.’
Then the second came and reported,
‘Your gold coin, sir, has earned five more.’
And to this servant too he said,
‘You, take charge of five cities.’
Then the other servant came and said,
‘Sir, here is your gold coin;
I kept it stored away in a handkerchief,
for I was afraid of you, because you are a demanding man;
you take up what you did not lay down
and you harvest what you did not plant.’
He said to him,
‘With your own words I shall condemn you,
you wicked servant.
You knew I was a demanding man,
taking up what I did not lay down
and harvesting what I did not plant;
why did you not put my money in a bank?
Then on my return I would have collected it with interest.’
And to those standing by he said,
‘Take the gold coin from him
and give it to the servant who has ten.’
But they said to him,
‘Sir, he has ten gold coins.’
He replied, ‘I tell you,
to everyone who has, more will be given,
but from the one who has not,
even what he has will be taken away.
Now as for those enemies of mine who did not want me as their king,
bring them here and slay them before me.’”
After he had said this,
he proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem.
I think there are two themes that collide in today’s reading: the first is being prepared for the master’s return. The second is gaining what is most important only by letting go of what we have.
The month of November is always a strange time in the lectionary. Between All Saints Day and the Feast of Christ the King, the readings focus more and more on the trials of the end times, preparation for final judgement, and readiness for the coming of the Lord. This dramatic swing in the readings reaches its logical conclusion in the season of Advent. As we prepare to celebrate the coming of Christ in his incarnation, we remember that he will come again in glory.
The first theme I mentioned above (preparedness) is most apparent in these readings. Another example is the ten virgins who await the coming of the bridegroom but only five of them have oil in their lamps when he arrives. In today’s reading, the master’s return reveals which servants prepared for his coming by multiplying his wealth and which servant squandered the opportunity by hiding his coin. This brings us to the second theme, which I think is even more interesting: we gain what is most important only by letting go of what we have. The servants must have been nervous to trade with master’s gold coins. But they knew they had to let go of what was entrusted to them in order to do their master’s will. Jesus tells us, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” However hard it is to let go of what we are holding on to, it is necessary to follow Christ.
The end of today’s reading tells us, “After he had said this, he proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem.” He goes to do the will of the Father. He goes to lose his life for our sake.
Prayer
We believe, O Lord, that you are consummate fairness. You know all the circumstances in our lives, our strengths and our weaknesses. We have been given the gift of life in our birth and the gift of your spiritual life in our baptism. Help us, we plead, to give back our self to you as you gave us of your very self in eternal life.
Saint of the Day
St. Rose Philippine Duchesne was a French nun who survived the French Revolution and was sent to America as a missionary at the age of 49. She was extraordinarily courageous in facing dangerous conditions on the frontier and was single-minded in her desire to serve the Native American population around her.
Rose was born in Grenoble, France, in 1769, to a wealthy family—her father was a successful businessman and city leader, and her mother was from a well-established family in the region. At the age of eight, Rose heard a Jesuit missionary priest give a lecture on his work on the American frontier, and the idea of serving as a missionary in America captured Rose's young imagination and became the greatest desire of her heart.
Rose was educated at home until she was twelve—after that, she was sent to a nearby convent for further schooling. When she turned nineteen, she secretly joined the community of nuns with whom she was studying, against the wishes of her family.
In 1792, at the height of the French Revolution, the convent Rose lived in was closed. For the next ten years, Rose lived as a laywoman but still ordered her life according to the vows she had professed as a religious sister. She even began a school for poor children, cared for the sick, and hid priests who were secretly leading Mass and encouraging the faithful.
When the Reign of Terror passed, Rose re-joined what was left of her community, and in 1804 the remaining members were grafted into a different community—the Society of the Sacred Heart. After a decade in this Society, Rose was asked to establish a new convent in Paris. Several years later, in 1818, at the age of 49, she and four other sisters traveled to the Louisiana Territory as missionaries to the American West.
She fell very ill on the trip to America and had to spend time recovering when they landed in New Orleans. She fell dangerously ill again on her trip up the Mississippi River to the area around St. Louis.
After arriving and recovering, she and her companions founded a school near St. Louis for the daughters of pioneers. They faced the bitter cold in the single log cabin in which they lived and worked. The community went on to open six other institutions, including orphanages and the first three schools west of the Mississippi River.
Rose had a loving concern for the Native Americans who lived by the European settlements on the American frontier, and she spent just as much of her energy educating them and caring for their sick as for the Europeans. When she retired from her administrative duties at the age of 71, she opened a school for Native Americans of the Potawatomi tribe, whose name for her meant “the woman who is always praying.”
Her work with the Potawatomi was short-lived, however—she failed to master their language, having struggled to learn English. After a year, she retired to a cabin near their original school around St. Louis and lived in prayer and solitude until she died in 1852. Before she died, she wrote:
“We cultivate a very small field for Christ but we love it, knowing that God does not require great achievements but a heart that holds back nothing for self.”
St. Rose was canonized by Pope St. John Paul II in 1988.
St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, the brave French nun who survived the Reign of Terror to bring education to the American frontier—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne is in the public domain. Last accessed October 18, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons.
