Daily Gospel Reflection
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October 19, 2021
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Gird your loins and light your lamps
and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding,
ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.
Blessed are those servants
whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.
Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself,
have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them.
And should he come in the second or third watch
and find them prepared in this way,
blessed are those servants.”
How often have we regretted not doing something? Perhaps it was turning down the opportunity to volunteer at a parish or maybe not giving a colleague at work some assistance on a project. I know I have wished I could have done more with the opportunities for service presented to me. I think these missed opportunities illustrate how we consider ourselves to be more ethical than our actions prove.
When a moment comes for us to act, we often back out due to fear or sloth. We rationalize that avoiding an ethical decision or an act of service is not a big deal because we will do the right thing in the future. The catch is that we will do tomorrow what we have practiced today. When we face the choice again, we will fail to act ethically if we haven’t practiced, well, acting ethically.
Today’s gospel calls on us to be servants who are not only “ready to open immediately when he [the master] comes and knocks” but also when the master comes “in the second or third watch.”
The second and third watches are the most inconvenient time of day, but still, we are called to be ethical individuals. Christ’s instructions are clear. We need to be on guard and ready to maintain our character no matter the situation.
We can say that it doesn’t matter or that it will be okay in the long run. Of course, nothing malicious may result from our inaction, but it is also possible for us to deprive ourselves of the opportunity to share in the fullness of God’s kingdom.
Lord, give us the strength today to be ready for you whenever you call us and to witness to our faith in times when we are tempted by fear or sloth. Let us be vigilant and consistent so that we may be called your blessed servants.
Prayer
Compared to what you have done for me, Abba, everything I can do for others is a mere pittance. Yet it means so much to you, and does so much in bringing about the fullness of your Kingdom. I ask of your Spirit this day the grace to “wait on someone.”
A smile, a kind word, yielding on the street or in the meeting room, making peace with someone whom I’ve been holding at arm’s length, forgiving someone who has hurt me – whatever you ask me to do, may I have the grace to do it.
Saint of the Day
St. Isaac Jogues is the first American saint—he was martyred with two other missionaries near the Mohawk river in New York state in 1646.
Isaac was born in 1607 in Orleans, France, to a middle-class family. He received a good education, and at the age of 17 entered the Jesuit community. As he continued his education in theology, he was influenced by superiors and teachers who had served as missionaries among the indigenous people of New France—what is now Canada.
Jogues was allowed to shorten his studies to pursue his interest in becoming a missionary himself. He was ordained a priest in January of 1636 and was immediately sent to New France to live among the Huron and Algonquian tribes. He landed at a settlement on the shores of Lake Huron that fall, but fell sick along with many from the tribe. The people of the village blamed the missionaries for the sickness and threatened to kill them, but the illness subsided before they acted.
After several years at that outpost, Jogues and several others made forays deeper into the wilderness to reach other native tribes. During one of these journeys in 1642, a group of Mohawk warriors captured Jogues, two other missionaries, and a number of Christian Hurons who were accompanying them. They brought the Christians to a village on the Mohawk river, about 40 miles west of present-day Albany, New York. There they tortured and beat the missionaries, and did worse to the Hurons. Jogues had his two index fingers severed, but survived.
Jogues was kept as a slave for some time until some Dutch traders found him and purchased his freedom. He made his way back to France where he visited his family, but his heart was still with the native people of New France. Within a few months, he was traveling back to resume missionary work there.
After a treaty brought peace with the Mohawks, Jogues went to live with them, but they were suspicious of the missionaries. When another epidemic broke out, the Mohawks blamed the newcomers—they killed Jogues and attacked his two companions on the next day.
Jogues and his companions were canonized in 1930 as the North American Martyrs—they included the two who died with him and four others who were killed during that general time. In Canada, their feast day falls on Sept. 26, and in America they are honored on Oct. 19.
St. Kateri Tekakwitha was born about ten years after Jogues died, in the same village where he gave his life for the faith.
St. Isaac Jogues and companions, as martyrs you planted the seeds of faith in North America—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Isaac Jogues is used with permission from Catholic Online. Last accessed October 4, 2024.