Daily Gospel Reflection

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October 31, 2024

Thursday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
Lk 13:31-35
Listen to the Audio Version

Some Pharisees came to Jesus and said,
“Go away, leave this area because Herod wants to kill you.”
He replied, “Go and tell that fox,
‘Behold, I cast out demons and I perform healings today and tomorrow,
and on the third day I accomplish my purpose.
Yet I must continue on my way today, tomorrow, and the following day,
for it is impossible that a prophet should die
outside of Jerusalem.’

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,
how many times I yearned to gather your children together
as a hen gathers her brood under her wings,
but you were unwilling!
Behold, your house will be abandoned.
But I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say,
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”

Reflection

Juan Jose Rodriguez Guiteras ’19
Young Alumni Coordinator, Notre Dame Club of Nashville
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“On the third day, I accomplish my purpose.”

Whatever our purpose in life may be, it’s hard to accept that we won’t accomplish it immediately. I like to check tasks off a to-do list and move on to another one, but a meaningful life takes time. It takes patience. It will likely take overcoming several hurdles along the way. But a focused, consistent effort—rooted in faith and trust in God—can help us finish the job.

Today’s gospel reminds me of my maternal grandparents, Jack and Luisa Guiteras, who fled Cuba amid the Communism that enveloped the nation. They strived to protect their family—including, at the time, three young children—and came to the United States to reestablish their business and their family.

Hearing the Pharisees’ warning, Jesus responds, “I must continue on my way today, tomorrow, and the following day,” trusting that he would accomplish his purpose by maintaining faith and trust in his heavenly Father.

Despite the petrifying fear of fleeing to a foreign country, nothing kept my grandparents from trusting in God on the way to achieving their purpose: rebuilding a successful business and providing so lovingly for what became a family of six children and the relatives who remained integrally connected to the family.

How fitting that we see this reading on Halloween, a day full of implied fear and horror but largely remembered for decorations, fun costumes, and, of course, candy. Jack and Luisa’s wedding anniversary is also a hallmark of today’s joyful celebrations for our family. While both have unfortunately passed away, the juxtaposition of fear with joy is radiant on a day like this.

Let us pray today, and every day, that we may maintain our own faith—despite whatever hurdles we encounter along the way—that God will guide us in accomplishing our ultimate purpose.

Prayer

Members of Holy Cross Novitiate

Lord Jesus, you long for us to be united with you in love, yet all too often, we choose to turn away from you because of persecution and suffering. Strengthen us to trust in you and joyfully follow your will, despite earthly trials. We ask this in your name. Amen.

Saint of the Day

All Hallows' Eve

Halloween might be the second largest secular holiday, but it is a holiday that is also distinctly Christian in origin.

October 31st is also known as All Hallows’ Eve—the “eve” before All Saints Day, or “all hallows.” That term, “hallowed,” means “holy”—as in in the English translation of the Our Father prayer, in which we declare God’s name to be “hallowed.” October 31st marks the beginning of "Allhallowtide" which concludes with November 2nd, the feast of All Souls.

This holiday stems from pagan and Christian influences. Halloween traditions bear many similarities to the Gaelic harvest festival, Samhain, which is perhaps responsible for its current place in the calendar at the height of autumn.

For most of Catholic history, important feast days were marked by a vigil celebration the night before, similar to celebrations contemporary Christians currently hold on Christmas Eve and the liturgical celebration of the Easter Vigil. All Hallows’ Eve was the evening celebration commencing the feast of All Saints Day. Its place in the calendar is also certainly due to the development of the All Saints' day celebration, which developed separately from harvest festivals.

Ever since the veneration of martyrs began during the earliest centuries of Christianity, Christians have honored holy men and women who have died. The first church buildings that were not homes were shrines called martyria, built above the tomb of a martyr, where the local community prayed for that saint's intercession. An overwhelming amount of early Christian practice was focused around a particular person and their following of Christ into death and resurrection. The early Christian communities gathered around Christ's paschal mystery in the celebration of the Eucharist, but their communities were quite literally grounded in the witness of their brothers and sisters in faith—built upon those men and women who had completely handed over their lives to Christ.

Eventually, after many centuries of persecution, there were many Christian martyrs whose names were lost. Thus, a feast of all martyrs was established the Sunday after Pentecost. On May 13 of 609, Pope Boniface IV obtained the Pantheon in Rome from Emperor Phocas, and he dedicated the Pantheon to the Blessed Virgin Mary and All Martyrs. Nearly one hundred and fifty years later, Pope Gregory III dedicated a new chapel in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome to “the Redeemer, his holy Mother, all the apostles, martyrs, and confessors, and all the just and perfect who are at rest throughout the whole world” on May 13, 732. Thus, the feast of All Saints was born.

In the ninth century, Pope Gregory IV moved the feast of All Saints from May 13 to November 1, largely out of consideration for the many pilgrims traveling to Rome for the festival. During the hot month of May, the pilgrims experienced hardship from the sweltering Italian heat, so the Pope translated the festival to a cooler time of year. In some locations, it seems as though November 1st was chosen as a means of appropriating harvest festivals such as Samhain. As their pagan neighbors celebrated the spirits of the departed and mischievous supernatural spirits, the Christians feted their predecessors in the faith and prayed for their intercession.

Many of today’s Halloween customs come from the harvest festival traditions and Christian traditions that developed in tandem around Allhallowtide. In Europe in those days, the faithful rang bells for souls in purgatory and baked cakes known as “soul cakes.” Poorer families, most often, the children, would visit households to collect these cakes. Some traditions credit the development of jack-o'-lanterns to the custom of lighting lamps to guide souls to the afterlife or to purgatory.

After the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, these All Hallow's Eve traditions waned on the European continent but continued in other places, like the Celtic nations of Scotland and Ireland. Thus, when Scottish and Irish immigrants came to America, they brought with them traditional "Hallowe'en" practices, which many of their American neighbors also embraced.

One of the murals in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Notre Dame's campus presents us with a vision of heaven that awaits all those in purgatory. This image shows Mary and Jesus attending to Joseph at his deathbed as choirs of angels in heaven await his soul.

On the feast of All Hallows’ Eve, let us pray for all the souls of the faithful departed!