Daily Gospel Reflection
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November 22, 2023
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.'”
My initial reaction after reading today’s parable from Jesus to his disciples was simply, “Yikes!” You may be asking yourself the same question I started with: “Where is the good news in “to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away?”
As a current graduate student in the throes of a hectic semester, it’s tempting to claim that I belong in the latter category. There are many things in life I currently have not. Significant financial stability or an abundance of free time and sleep are not a part of my current reality. Imagining the little of each of these things I do have being taken away from me is, quite frankly, a terrifying thought experiment.
But in reading this passage more carefully, I realize that through this parable, Jesus is inviting his disciples to abandon their preconceived notions of what the kingdom of God will look like and instead take up a new vision.
This parable can also be considered a testament to God’s generosity. What if this is God’s promise to those who choose to invest their gold coins (their time, energy, and gifts) that the goodness they have received will only increase all the more? The abundance God asks us to envision in the coming kingdom of God is not one of immediate, physical “moreness.”
It is not that when I choose to participate in the coming kingdom of God by investing my gold coin, God will finally provide for me more money, more free time, and more sleep, but that the depth and breadth of the richness of God’s love in my life will abound with a limitless generosity.
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. Cecilia is one of the most venerated martyrs from early Christianity, one of the few who is invoked in a Eucharistic prayer during the celebration of the Mass. Cecilia is the patron saint of musicians and some of her relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Notre Dame's campus.
There are few historically verifiable details from Cecilia's biography, but legends that pass on the story of her life have endured through the ages. A famous church in Cecilia's honor was built in Rome, Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, traditionally believed to be built over the site of her home, and Cecilia's body rests there.
While Cecilia was still young, her parents arranged a marriage for her with a wealthy Roman named Valerian, who was not a Christian. It is said that when she heard the music play around her during her raucous Roman wedding celebration, Cecilia barely noticed, as she was singing a hymn of love in her heart for Jesus the entire time. Cecilia had committed herself as a spouse to Christ before her marriage to Valerian. This is one of the legends that caused her to be invoked as a patron saint of musicians.
On their wedding night, Cecilia told Valerian of her commitment to God and taught him the Christian faith. Valerian converted that very night, requesting to be baptized along with his brother.
Valerian and his brother were both wealthy Roman citizens, thus, after their conversion, they dedicated their fortune to support Christian families who had suffered the death of a loved one in martyrdom. Eventually, the two brothers were captured and sentenced to death. The soldier charged with killing them was converted by their great faith, however, and, instead of killing them, took them into his house, begging that they would baptize him and his whole family.
The next day, Valerian, his brother, and the soldier were all beheaded. Cecilia made sure they were buried properly and distributed the goods of their households among the poor.
Eventually, Cecilia herself was captured for her bold proclamation of the faith and she was condemned to die by suffocation in steam baths. Despite remaining in the baths for a day and a half, Cecilia remained unharmed and able to breathe freely.
Legend has it that a soldier was sent to behead Cecilia, but after the three blows of the sword allowed by law, her head was not severed. She appeared incapacitated but peaceful, joyfully awaiting her death and union with Christ. Faithful friends gathered around her and waited with her until she died three days later. She was buried by the pope himself.

In 1599, when Cecilia's body was exhumed from under the church in Rome, it was reportedly found incorrupt, as though she had just been laid in the ground.
Some of St. Cecilia’s relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica and she is also depicted there in the stained glass windows seen in this biography. Her feast day is celebrated on November 22nd.
St. Cecilia, patron saint of musicians—pray for us!