Daily Gospel Reflection
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November 7, 2024
The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,
but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying,
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
So Jesus addressed this parable to them.
“What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them
would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert
and go after the lost one until he finds it?
And when he does find it,
he sets it on his shoulders with great joy
and, upon his arrival home,
he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them,
‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’
I tell you, in just the same way
there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous people
who have no need of repentance.
“Or what woman having ten coins and losing one
would not light a lamp and sweep the house,
searching carefully until she finds it?
And when she does find it,
she calls together her friends and neighbors
and says to them,
‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’
In just the same way, I tell you,
there will be rejoicing among the angels of God
over one sinner who repents.”
Gus was the first of five roommates I met in my freshman year. He had a well-worn Jerusalem bible in hand when I met him. “Oh no, I have a Jesus freak for a roommate!” I thought. We ended up in the same theology class, and to my chagrin, he wanted to talk to me about it after every class.
In the first week, he asked, “What did you think of that class, Rich?” We had just reviewed the Sermon on the Mount. I replied bluntly, “Gus, I am going to hell.” Gus, the good shepherd, spent the next six months bringing the lost sheep home, culminating in my first confession in five years. He walked me to the Basilica to make it happen. I spent an hour with the priest. Through the priest, Fr. Tom McNally, I experienced God’s mercy and forgiveness. That sacrament of reconciliation changed my life. A ton of bricks fell off my back. My behavior immediately changed.
Recently, our parish priest preached on reconciliation. He encouraged us to “be bold, be brief, and be gone.” Soon thereafter, I went to confession. Today, I don’t struggle with the waywardness of youth through the sins of gluttony, lust, greed, and envy as much. I struggle now with the more pharisaical sins of anger, sloth, and pride. I was struggling with a situation that was making me very angry. In my three-minute confession, I confessed my anger, received absolution, and then did penance. My anger dissipated immediately. It is the same grace of the sacrament that I experienced 45 years earlier in the confessional at Notre Dame.
Thank you, Lord, for patiently pursuing us when we stray and giving us the sacrament of reconciliation to experience your ongoing mercy. Amen.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, like the angels in heaven, may our hearts rejoice over the sinner who repents, over the doubting who find faith, over the despairing who find hope, over the lonely who find love. With you, may we zealously seek out the lost of our world, so that, like us, they may find their true home in you. 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
