Daily Gospel Reflection

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October 20, 2023

Friday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Lk 12:1-7
Listen to the Audio Version

At that time:
So many people were crowding together
that they were trampling one another underfoot.
Jesus began to speak, first to his disciples,
“Beware of the leaven–that is, the hypocrisy–of the Pharisees.

“There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed,
nor secret that will not be known.
Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness
will be heard in the light,
and what you have whispered behind closed doors
will be proclaimed on the housetops.
I tell you, my friends,
do not be afraid of those who kill the body
but after that can do no more.
I shall show you whom to fear.
Be afraid of the one who after killing
has the power to cast into Gehenna;
yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one.
Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins?
Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God.
Even the hairs of your head have all been counted.
Do not be afraid.
You are worth more than many sparrows.”

Reflection

Mia Tiwana '23
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I traveled to Portugal for World Youth Day this summer while interning with Verso Ministries, a Catholic travel agency. We had our work cut out for us. We were responsible for eleven hundred pilgrims, providing for their physical needs and spiritual support amidst 1.5 million people overwhelming the little city of Lisbon.

My coworker and I experienced our first of many frenzied moments navigating the crowds at the opening Mass. There is nothing like being jostled by hundreds of humans from every direction, hoping you won’t lose sight of the familiar head of hair you’re trying to follow. Luke similarly describes the crowd around Jesus, “so many people were crowding together that they were trampling one another underfoot.”

Mass came to its pinnacle as we received Jesus. With the Eucharistic bread resting on my tongue, I looked around to see the same swaths of people who jostled me now quietly receiving the Eucharist with me. It suddenly dawned on me that God knew every single detail about these souls. Today’s gospel came to mind when Jesus told the crowd, “Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid.”

God not only created them, but he pursued each of them with an intense love from their first breath. In The Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis writes, “You have never talked to a mere mortal, ” signaling the reality of our immortal souls. The never-relinquishing crowds of World Youth Day reminded me of the sacred nature of every human encounter.

May we always remember that we are amidst beloved souls of God.

Prayer

Members of the Holy Cross Novitiate

Almighty and ever-loving Father, you know us better than we know ourselves. Too often, we place our trust in things of this world, failing to place our full trust in you. Your Son proclaimed to us that you know even the number of hairs on our heads. Help us to behold the great love you have for us, and all of our brothers and sisters, that we may more faithfully place our trust in you. We ask this through your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Saint of the Day

St. Paul of the Cross

St. Paul of the Cross was an 18th century Italian mystic who founded the Passionist order after receiving a vision.

He was born in 1694 in northern Italy near Genoa. His father owned a store, and moved the family frequently in an effort to make ends meet in better markets. His parents bore 16 children, but only six survived childhood—Paul was the second of those.

Paul went to a school for boys run by a priest and was an excellent student. He returned home when he was 15, and began to gather other boys in the neighborhood into a community of sorts dedicated to prayer and good works. He went on to teach catechism in nearby parishes.

When he was 19, Paul had a conversion in which he saw that he was not cooperating with God's grace enough, and dedicated himself to a life of prayer and discipline. Soon, Jesus’ suffering and death—his passion—became a central focus for the young man because he believed it was the most important thing for people to know about God.

“It is an excellent and holy practice to call to mind and meditate on our Lord's passion, since it is by this path that we shall arrive at union with God,” he wrote. “In this, the holiest of all schools, true wisdom is learned, for it was there that all the saints became wise.”

When he was 26 years old, Paul experienced a vision during prayer in which he heard God calling him to establish a new religious community dedicated to Jesus’ passion. In the vision, he saw himself clothed in the habit that his community would wear: a long, black robe with a white symbol stitched in the center—a white cross above a white heart that held the words, “passion of Jesus Christ.” The new community was grounded in poverty and solitude and had a mission to encourage people to meditate on the suffering and death of Jesus.

"The service of God does not require good words and good desires,” Paul said, “but efficient workmanship, fervor and courage." Paul’s first follower was his own brother, John Baptist. The two moved to Rome to seek approval for the new order, and were invited to help establish a new hospital.

The brothers studied theology and were ordained priests by the pope in 1727. They went out to rural, underserved areas to preach missions. Paul in particular was an excellent preacher and the community began to grow as more and more people were touched by their ministry and other young men wanted to join their efforts.

When Paul preached, people listened—he would scourge himself and hold the cross to urge people to call upon the sufferings of Jesus to reform their ways. One army officer told him, "Father, I have been in great battles without ever flinching at the cannon's roar, but when I listen to you I tremble from head to foot."

As he grew in holiness, Paul was given supernatural gifts—he could see into the future, and sick people became well through his prayer and touch. At times he could appear to people who were far away.

When Paul died in 1775, his community held 180 priests and brothers, and also included a convent of contemplative sisters. St. Vincent Strambi was a Passionist priest who was named a bishop. The Passionists came to America in 1852—here, the feast day for St. Paul of the Cross is perpetually transferred to Oct. 20; the rest of the world celebrates his feast day on Oct. 19.

Relics of St. Paul of the Cross rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica on campus.

St. Paul of the Cross, you urge us to seek the “wisdom of the saints” in Jesus’ suffering and death—pray for us!


Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Paul of the Cross is in the public domain. Last accessed October 4, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons.