Daily Gospel Reflection
Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.
October 14, 2021
The Lord said:
“Woe to you who build the memorials of the prophets
whom your fathers killed.
Consequently, you bear witness and give consent
to the deeds of your ancestors,
for they killed them and you do the building.
Therefore, the wisdom of God said,
‘I will send to them prophets and Apostles;
some of them they will kill and persecute’
in order that this generation might be charged
with the blood of all the prophets
shed since the foundation of the world,
from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah
who died between the altar and the temple building.
Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood!
Woe to you, scholars of the law!
You have taken away the key of knowledge.
You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.”
When Jesus left, the scribes and Pharisees
began to act with hostility toward him
and to interrogate him about many things,
for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say.
Reflection
My parents were members of what Tom Brokaw called “the greatest generation” that won WWII. In contrast, my generation, the baby boomers, was viewed with much suspicion and even hostility by the greatest generation. Often characterized by sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll, it was feared that we were leading the country down the path toward moral relativism and unbridled self-indulgence.
It seems our Sacred Scriptures are also interested in evaluating different generations. In the Old Testament the generation that entered the land of Canaan with Joshua had a positive reputation, for they “worshipped the Lord all the days of Joshua.” (Joshua 2:7) God contrasts this with the generation under Moses that was delivered from Egypt: “For forty years, I loathed that generation and said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they do not regard my ways.’”(Ps. 95:10-11)
It is clear from the reading today and the ones preceding it that Jesus had similar contempt for his generation. When they ask for a sign, he calls them “an evil and adulterous generation.” Why does Jesus condemn his generation so thoroughly? The gospel gives one reason: they rejected him and his followers, even as they allegedly rejected the prophets who came before them.
We cannot explain away the contempt that Jesus had for his generation. However, it is crucial to remember that his indictment applies only to his generation. We should also remember that the rabbis similarly stated that only the generation that brought upon itself the destruction of the Temple was guilty of the sin of “baseless hatred” toward their fellow Jews.
Today, let us not give in to the temptation to judge or classify generations before their time. Most importantly, let us not continue any baseless hatred by extending Jesus’ condemnation of his generation to any subsequent generations of the Jewish people as has too often been the case in the history of Christian tradition. Instead, let us work to be the kind of generation with which Christ would be pleased.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you continually call us to love and conversion. In your challenge to the Pharisees, we hear you challenge us to grow in holiness. May we, in heeding your call, always seek to please you in the good we do, rather than pleasing ourselves. Grant us the trust to accept your call to growth, that we may come to know the fullness of life, which you promise to those who love you. We ask this in your most Holy Name. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Saint Callistus began his life as a slave and ended it as pope, murdered or martyred around the year 222 AD.
Callistus’ biography was written by one of his ecclesial enemies, Hippolytus, so it presents a somewhat biased and unfavorable view of Callistus. Hippolytus was the clear favorite for papal election but he was passed over in favor of Callistus, causing Hippolytus no small amount of envy. Hippolytus vehemently disagreed with Callistus’ policy of reversing the excommunications of those who had committed murder and adultery and bringing them back into the Church, upon their repentance. Despite his uncharitable bias, there are some certain definite facts that can be gleaned from Hippolytus' account, known as the Philosophumena.
Callistus was a slave, born in late second-century Rome. Callistus' Christian master put him in charge of a bank that held money for the local community. Callistus irresponsibly lost the money, either through dishonest investment or careless stewardship, and fled the wrath of his master.
When pursuers closed in, he jumped into the sea, but was caught and sentenced to work in a mill. The people who had lost money from his bad investments wanted Callistus returned so that he could recover their funds. Facing mounting pressure to return the lost money, Callistus tried to collect from other debtors, who promptly initiated a brawl. After this misdemeanor, Callistus was sentenced to work in the mines with other Christian prisoners.
Mercifully, Emperor Commodus granted amnesty to many imprisoned Christians in the mines, and Callistus was released. He made his way back to Rome and re-established himself in the community. Pope Victor I gave him a pension, and Callistus' health, taxed from years of hard labor, began to recover.
When St. Zephyrinus was elected pope in 199, he put Callistus in charge of a public cemetery for Christians. This was one of the first pieces of property in Rome that the Church owned, and unlike his earlier experience with stewarding money, Callistus managed the cemetery wisely. This cemetery eventually became known as the Catacombs of Saint Callistus on the Via Appia Antica. There are at least nine popes now buried there. After Callistus' excellent stewardship of this cemetery, Zephyrinus asked Callistus to serve as one of his counselors, and he ordained him a deacon. The two became close friends.
When Zephyrinus died, Callistus was elected pope in 217 by a majority of the Christians in Rome, according to the custom of the time. He was merciful in dealing with sinners, reversing excommunications and working to preserve orthodox Christianity against various schisms and heresies. He has also been credited with the official implementation of the Ember Day fasts.
It is possible that Callistus was martyred—not in an imperial persecution, but perhaps in some kind of popular uprising—or he was murdered. Legend has that he was thrown into a well, perhaps because of this legend his titular church contains a well. Some of Callistus' relics rest in the reliquary chapel at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Notre Dame's campus.
St. Callistus, the young slave who became pope—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Callistus is used with permission from Catholic Online. Last accessed October 3, 2024.