Daily Gospel Reflection
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October 14, 2025
After Jesus had spoken,
a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home.
He entered and reclined at table to eat.
The Pharisee was amazed to see
that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal.
The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees!
Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish,
inside you are filled with plunder and evil.
You fools!
Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?
But as to what is within, give alms,
and behold, everything will be clean for you.”
On Labor Day weekend, I was in a maximum security prison in California with Kairos Ministry, and as one of my team members cleverly said, “I am still on a Kai high!” We spent four days with 35 ladies, and it was life-changing for all of us.
Our goal was to help inmates establish a community in Christ, so that they had friends who knew them and would support one another in their faith journey within the prison.
As they started to feel comfortable with us, they started to unpack all their pain, fear, and other feelings that they suppressed. Our team would give personal speeches about our struggles and thought-provoking questions for the ladies to talk about in small groups. Allowing ourselves to be open and vulnerable allowed the ladies to start conversations.
I noticed that throughout this process of unraveling the layers of trauma and fear, we all saw God’s presence in our hearts. We did not judge each other from the outside, but started to see inside our hearts, recognizing each one of us as uniquely created by God.
It was on Saturday evening that I realized that Sunday was our discussion on forgiveness. The ladies talked about forgiveness, how they needed to forgive others and themselves. I realized—how could I help them forgive others, when I haven’t been able to truly forgive? It was a moment of starting the process of cleaning my own heart to help them clean theirs.
How many of us hold onto feelings that prevent us from seeing God’s love in others? By holding on to pain, trauma, and anger, how can we demonstrate God’s love to others? By knowing each other’s stories and breaking down the walls that protect us, we can stop judging and start loving.
Prayer
Father, Creator of all, you are the center of all life. Everything in this world points to you and leads us to you. Today I ask of you the grace to keep you at the center of my life, to use you as the reference point of all my thoughts, words, and actions. Help me to get myself and “How it looks to others” out of the center of my attention, and put you there. In serving you, I hope to give my best self to all whom I encounter this day.
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 it 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.