Daily Gospel Reflection
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November 7, 2022
Jesus said to his disciples,
“Things that cause sin will inevitably occur,
but woe to the one through whom they occur.
It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck
and he be thrown into the sea
than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.
Be on your guard!
If your brother sins, rebuke him;
and if he repents, forgive him.
And if he wrongs you seven times in one day
and returns to you seven times saying, ‘I am sorry,’
you should forgive him.”
And the Apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you would say to this mulberry tree,
‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”
Reflection
One piece of marital advice that has stuck with me over the years is that it is my job to “get my wife to heaven.” What a big task! No, not because of my spouse—anyone who has met her would immediately recognize I have the easiest job in the world. It is daunting because I wonder how someone like me, with all my faults, can lead anyone to heaven.
Jesus’ words, “woe to the one through whom [sins] occur,” hold a key of insight for us because they have a positive dimension in addition to the explicit negative one. While it is our duty to avoid leading each other astray, we are also called to help one another remain true to the gospel. Luckily, one does not need to be perfectly holy to help another. Even the lowliest sinner can help the most righteous person when we rely on the Lord.
We often fail to recognize the degree to which our actions affect and influence others. This is especially true in our family life and relationships with our spouse and children—the people we spend the most time with. By our actions, we often lead one another astray or closer to heaven.
In my experience, focusing on each other’s welfare more than contemplating our own helps to avoid the notion that we are unworthy as leaders on this journey. By spending less time worrying about whether or not we can do it, we can properly focus on the next step in this moment to care for those around us. This focus fosters an unselfish mindset that reminds us that we are all here to help each other to be better Christians—ultimately, to get each other to heaven!
Prayer
Gracious and forgiving God, grant me the wisdom to recognize and rebuke the sin I may cause and often do not see. And may your loving forgiveness which has been repeated so many times in my life, inspire me to treat with enduring patience and kindness those whose actions provoke the same. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Willibrord evangelized the Netherlands, and people in that region still honor the saint today with a unique “dancing saints” procession.
He was born in 658 and educated in a monastery led by St. Wilfrid. At the age of 20, he went to Ireland to study and live in a monastery there. After 12 years, he had a desire to preach the faith in northern Germany, but was denied because it was a dangerous region, and other monks had tried and failed.
Willibrord traveled to Rome, where he flung himself at the feet of the pope, asking for permission to preach the Gospel to pagan nations. The pope gave him authority to do so, and gave him a number of relics with which he could consecrate altars in churches he built.
He preached in parts of what is now the Netherlands before being ordained a bishop in 695. As he aged, he only seemed to gain zeal and energy for the spread of the Gospel. With help from patrons, he established a monastery in Echternach, Luxembourg, which became the center of learning and culture.
A town surrounds the abbey in Echternach today. Each Tuesday after Pentecost, the people of the town gather for a festival known as the Dancing Saints. Its origins are obscure, but it has been celebrated since the 1500s. The people of the town process with a dancing step to music, moving through the town, over a bridge, to the tomb of Willibrord. The ceremony ends with a benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Video of the people of Echternach processing to St. Willibrord’s tomb can be seen here.
In one of his journeys, Willibrord landed upon an island that was revered as a holy place by the Danes. The people there refused to kill anything on the island for food—either animals or plants—and only drew water from a spring in complete silence. Willibrord set out to demonstrate this reverence as foolishness and killed several animals and ate them with his companions. He then baptized three people in the spring, loudly pronouncing the words to the rite.
In other places, he confronted paganism, overthrowing idols and boldly proclaiming the truth of Jesus Christ. For a time, he was joined by St. Boniface.
Willibrord was known as cheerful and wise, and he nourished all of his evangelical activity with a healthy prayer life of meditation and reading. From time to time, he would return to the monastery he founded at Echternach for retreat and prayer. He died there on this date in 739 at the age of 81, and is buried in the abbey church, which is a place of pilgrimage. His relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica. Willibrord is patron of those who suffer from seizures.
St. Willibrord, you evangelized the Netherlands and are honored in the festival of the Dancing Saints--pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Willibrord is used with permission from Catholic Online. Last accessed October 10, 2024