Daily Gospel Reflection
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November 7, 2025
Jesus said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward
who was reported to him for squandering his property.
He summoned him and said,
‘What is this I hear about you?
Prepare a full account of your stewardship,
because you can no longer be my steward.’
The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do,
now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me?
I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg.
I know what I shall do so that,
when I am removed from the stewardship,
they may welcome me into their homes.’
He called in his master’s debtors one by one.
To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’
He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note.
Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’
Then to another he said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’
He replied, ‘One hundred measures of wheat.’
He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note;
write one for eighty.’
And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.
For the children of this world
are more prudent in dealing with their own generation
than the children of light.”
What’s something that 44% of American adults aged 50 and younger have, yet only 13% of those aged 65+ have? Any guess? It’s a tattoo!
When someone gets a tattoo, they are expressing themselves—their personality, values, or style. Or maybe they are honoring someone or something they love, or maybe they just love the art and beauty of how it looks on their skin.
In today’s gospel, Jesus contrasts the “children of this world” with the “children of light.” The steward in the story is worldly—clever, strategic, and quick to act when his future is threatened. Jesus isn’t praising his dishonesty, but his alertness and initiative. The lesson is that those who live in the light of God’s truth and grace should show that same kind of wisdom, energy, and foresight in living out their faith.
To be a child of light means to see clearly what truly matters: not wealth or comfort, but relationships, mercy, and eternal life. Jesus invites us to use what we have, our time, talents, and possessions, in ways that reflect God’s light and bring it to others. The children of light are called not just to believe, but to shine, using prudence and purpose to build a future rooted in God’s love.
Our mom, Kathleen O’Neill, is 88 years old—one amazing year of life for every key on a piano. Mom loves the motto adopted by our Notre Dame Alumni Association, “Be the Light!” Every day, that theme guides her and everything she will do that day. Mom recently told us it’s the only phrase she wants set out to commemorate her life at her own funeral. (Hopefully a couple of decades away!) But you know what? Mom wants to get a tattoo of “Be the Light!” Yes, at age 88.
How will you be a child of God’s light today? And what is so important to you, every day, that you would get a tattoo of it?
Prayer
Merciful God, you know that we fall short of our desire to follow you. Help us to see the ways that we, too, suffer from a lack of strength and an excess of shame that we may more readily confess, repent, and continue to serve you. Help us to depend more on those we love than on our own material resources, for it is in encountering others that we truly learn to serve and to love and therefore to follow you as we desire. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Willibrord evangelized the Netherlands. People in that region still honor the saint today with a unique “dancing saints” procession. On November 16, 2010, UNESCO inscribed the dancing procession on the representative list of the Intangible Cultural World Heritage.
St. Willibrord 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 there was a mention of a great influx of pilgrims since the 12th century. The phrase "dancing saints" has been mentioned 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 of 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 the 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.
