Daily Gospel Reflection
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November 25, 2020
Jesus said to the crowd:
“They will seize and persecute you,
they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons,
and they will have you led before kings and governors
because of my name.
It will lead to your giving testimony.
Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand,
for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking
that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.
You will even be handed over by parents,
brothers, relatives, and friends,
and they will put some of you to death.
You will be hated by all because of my name,
but not a hair on your head will be destroyed.
By your perseverance you will secure your lives.”
In today’s Gospel according to Luke, Jesus’ message to the crowd is clear: judgment is an inevitable consequence of discipleship. Jesus informs the crowd that betrayal from friends, family, and neighbors is certain. I can imagine being in the crowd, hearing this message of impending persecution and condemnation and how scary this message would sound. I envision looking to my left and my right wondering if it is possible that someone so close to me could betray me. How could this be? What? Not my family or friends—not possible.
When I am wronged, I quickly seek vindication by sharing my experience of pain with my inner circle of trusted confidants. I share my experience with family and friends, relying on their comfort and understanding of my feelings. It comes naturally to me to make these people my refuge, and they steady me in times of adversity. As I reflect on today’s gospel, I hear a challenge to seek solace first and foremost in the Lord and to let the Word of God and the gift of God’s wisdom be my greatest strength.
Jesus understood the natural response to react, deflect or defend as our first response to fear, but his instruction is clear: do not “prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.” What power and comfort these words offer us! How awe-inspiring! Jesus offers absolute safety to those who can persevere in the world: “Not a hair on your head will perish.”
Mighty God, help us to know that when faced with adversity, when words may escape us, the spiritual gift of your wisdom is already ours.
Prayer
O, Christ, our lives pattern your own. You were beaten and spat upon for loving a world unused to love. We, however, expect not to be hated by the world, but admired by it; not to be betrayed, but to succeed. Save us from the lie that your name, Jesus, will bring us only success, praise, and power. Give us the endurance to suffer because we have become such great lovers of the world that we bear you in our very bodies. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Catherine of Alexandria is a patron saint of students of philosophy because she went toe-to-toe with the greatest minds of her age, and converted them to Christianity at the tender age of eighteen.
Very little of her life is known with certainty. The chief story that has been handed down to us reports that Catherine was born into a well-to-do family living in Alexandria at the beginning of the fourth century, and dedicated her life to education. Her studies led her to consider the truth about Christianity, and when she received a vision of Mary holding the child Jesus, she converted to the faith.
When the emperor Maxentius began persecuting Christians, Catherine visited him and rebuked his decision, even though she was just a teenager. Catherine began to argue with the emperor in defense of Christianity. Maxentius could not respond to Catherine’s arguments, so he gathered fifty learned philosophers to oppose her. When her reasoning converted them, Maxentius was enraged. He tried to seduce her and make her part of his court, but she refused and was beaten and imprisoned.
She continued to convert people who came to visit her in prison, including Maxentius' wife, and so Catherine was condemned to die upon a spiked wheel. When she was placed upon it, her hands were miraculously freed and the wheel shattered. She was then beheaded.
Catherine is often depicted with the broken wheel, as in the portrait above, which hangs in the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art. Another depiction of Catherine, the copper relief seen below, is from the chapel in the Fischer Graduate Residences community center. Catherine's wheel can be viewed in the lower right-hand corner. A few of Catherine's relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Notre Dame's campus.
When Joan of Arc received messages from heaven, it was Catherine’s voice that she heard. St. Catherine of Alexandria is a patron saint of philosophers, preachers, students—particularly women studying in higher education, and those who work with wheels or mills.
St. Catherine of Alexandria, patron saint of students and Christian philosophers—pray for us!
Image Credit: Bernardino Luini (Italian, ca. 1480-ca. 1532), St. Catherine of Alexandria, late 15th/early 16th century, oil on panel. Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Fred J. Fisher, 1951.004.004.