Daily Gospel Reflection
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November 19, 2021
Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out
those who were selling things, saying to them,
“It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer,
but you have made it a den of thieves.”
And every day he was teaching in the temple area.
The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile,
were seeking to put him to death,
but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose
because all the people were hanging on his words.
Reflection
We know well the stories of Jesus’ great works: restoring sight to the blind, healing lepers, and even raising the dead. Today we must stand in awe of a much more common-place force, the human capacity to be captivated. The authorities’ desire to put Jesus to death was thwarted because “all the people were spellbound” by what Jesus was teaching. Could it be that our very human ability to pay attention has a saving power?
Today’s gospel is perhaps best known for Jesus’ angry, forceful expulsion of the merchants from the temple. We assume that these unscrupulous peddlers were stealing money from would-be worshipers, but perhaps Jesus’ complaint was that they were stealing something much more precious—attention.
It’s a basic human desire to have our imagination enraptured by something so compelling that we forget the things around us. Experiencing a beautiful piece of music, a breath-taking sunset, or the presence of a long-lost friend can draw us in. Each of these engages our innermost desire for beauty and for being enveloped by something more powerful than ourselves. In the gospel, we see a people captivated by the ultimate beauty of God himself.
The chief priests and the scribes of Jesus’ time are still active today. They are the forces that distract us from God in our midst, cluttering our sacred spaces with hollow promises and emptiness camouflaged as fulfillment. We know that the purveyors of heartbreak seek to set up shop around every corner, as well as in our hearts.
The happy news of today’s gospel is that we are able to be spellbound by God. It is possible to drive out distractions from sacred spaces: our churches, homes, and privileged quiet moments. In the midst of a world that is at once beautiful and broken, we are able to decide how to allocate one of the most sacred of gifts: our attention.
Let’s pray that we become ever more captivated by Jesus Christ.
Prayer
“All the people were spellbound by what they heard.” This is a haunting line, Jesus. We know we don’t give your Word priority of place in our lives. Our selfishness and judging of others show that clearly. We listen only to those words that reinforce and “bless” our attitudes, lifestyle, and the choices we make. Yet, we believe we are temples of the Spirit, that you dwell within us. We know we need cleansing, but are afraid to ask for it, for fear that we’ll have to change. Lord Jesus, please help us. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Raphael Kalinowski had a brilliant mind and a faithful heart that he used to spread the faith in Poland at the end of the 1800s. He survived ten years in a labor camp in Siberia before becoming a Carmelite priest.
He was born in 1835 to a noble family in Vilnius—his father taught mathematics and served as superintendent of the local boarding school for nobles. Raphael attended this school and graduated with honors in 1850.
Opportunities for further education were limited, so Raphael joined the Russian army that he might study at an engineering academy. He later was assigned as professor of mathematics at the academy, and helped to design railroads.
He was promoted to captain, but his heart was with the oppressed Poles of his homeland. He resigned from the army and joined resistance efforts, helping to lead a major uprising. He was captured and sentenced to die by firing squad. When his family intervened, Russian authorities feared that if they killed him, he would inspire more trouble as a political martyr. They sentenced him to ten years in a Siberian labor camp instead.
Over the course of nine months, he was forcibly marched to a labor camp in Siberia—many did not survive the journey, but Raphael had a hidden strength, and became a leader to other prisoners. He labored in salt mines there for ten years.
After his release, he returned to Poland, and became a tutor to the young prince, August Czartoryski. The prince suffered from tuberculosis, and Raphael accompanied him as he sought medical treatment and favorable climates; he had a profound influence on the young man’s life. The prince eventually became a priest and was beatified by Pope St. John Paul II in 2004.
Throughout his travels, Raphael became aware of the Russian persecution of the Church and of the people of his homeland. He entered a community of Carmelites in 1877 and was ordained a priest five years later. His leadership skills were recognized, and he was named superior of the community. He went on to found a number of new monasteries throughout Poland.
Raphael died of tuberculosis at the age of 72 in Wadowice, Poland—the same town in which Pope St. John Paul II was born in 14 years later. His tomb became a place of pilgrimage—so many people would take handfuls of dirt from his grave that the nuns who oversaw the cemetery had to continually replace the earth and plants there.
Pope St. John Paul II counted Raphael as one of his boyhood heroes, and canonized him a saint in 1991—the first member of this Carmelite community to be named a saint since its founder, St. John of the Cross.
St. Raphael Kalinowski, you were the hero of Pope St. John Paul II who survived a Siberian labor camp to spread the faith in Poland—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Raphael Kalinowski is used with permission from Catholic Online. Last accessed October 18, 2024.