Daily Gospel Reflection
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November 25, 2024
When Jesus looked up he saw some wealthy people
putting their offerings into the treasury
and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins.
He said, “I tell you truly,
this poor widow put in more than all the rest;
for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth,
but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood.”
This year has been humbling: Our family lost two key members and still others became very sick. I realized I couldn’t balance the pace of my career with these changing family dynamics. I was working straight through weekends, missing family events, and not calling friends back.
Nearly all of my community involvement stopped. I struggled (and honestly, continue to struggle) with anxiety and depression.
One night, my three-year-old asked during bedtime, “Daddy, why do you have to go back to work? Can you stay with me?” Sometimes, the innocent question of a child is a timely dose of truth and humility.
As I reflected on my priorities and eventually quit what I had mistaken as a dream job, I thought a lot about my grandfather, who came to this country with nothing, escaping a war-torn Croatia, not even knowing if he’d see his family again. He would pull me aside as a kid and encourage me to “leave the next generation better off.” For the longest time, I took that message to strive for material wealth, providing means for our family while giving “treasure” to the community. However, I realize now that my grandfather provided the greatest gift of all — he was present.
I know I cannot offer as much monetary treasure today as I could earlier in the year, but I can now offer presence, peace, and comfort to my family and friends more so than I have before. I can also now receive their love more than before. Even out of poor means and suffering, the widow gave more than just money to the treasury but also her presence, her time, and her faith that she was supporting the greater glory of God.
Whether we give time, talent, or treasure, let the poor widow be an example to us, encouraging us to reflect deeply on what matters to us, then generously giving all that we can to support each other, those in need, or causes we believe in.
Prayer
Spirit of Love, inspire us to give all we are and all we have to the building of your kingdom. Help us to realize that any abundance we have is not for our own good but for the good of others. May we learn to enter into the spirit of the widow who gave her all so that others might benefit, even in her poverty. Divest us of anything that might slow us in the building of those places where you live and reign. 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 the 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.