Daily Gospel Reflection
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September 18, 2022
Jesus said to his disciples,
“A rich man had a steward
who was reported to him for squandering his property.
He summoned him and said,
‘What is this I hear about you?
Prepare a full account of your stewardship,
because you can no longer be my steward.’
The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do,
now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me?
I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg.
I know what I shall do so that,
when I am removed from the stewardship,
they may welcome me into their homes.’
He called in his master’s debtors one by one.
To the first he said,
‘How much do you owe my master?’
He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’
He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note.
Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’
Then to another the steward said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’
He replied, ‘One hundred kors of wheat.’
The steward said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note;
write one for eighty.’
And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.
“For the children of this world
are more prudent in dealing with their own generation
than are the children of light.
I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth,
so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
The person who is trustworthy in very small matters
is also trustworthy in great ones;
and the person who is dishonest in very small matters
is also dishonest in great ones.
If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth,
who will trust you with true wealth?
If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another,
who will give you what is yours?
No servant can serve two masters.
He will either hate one and love the other,
or be devoted to one and despise the other.
You cannot serve both God and mammon.”
Today’s gospel reminds us that the extraordinary moments in saints’ lives are not random acts of profound faithfulness: “The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones.”
Behind the heroic moments of a saint’s life that make it into every biography are the ordinary, sanctifying, and often forgettable tasks that no one ever writes about. I am deeply encouraged by this reminder that God grows the virtue of saints, first and foremost, through tiny matters hidden in daily life.
In my present life stage as a mother, I have frequent opportunities to be faithful to the small matters that God presents to me throughout the day. I call this opportunity to be trustworthy to God “obedience to reality,” whether in cooking, diapering, cleaning, breastfeeding, or nurturing.
I am far from being virtuous in all small matters given to me, but I find great hope in trusting that each small point, when offered with a generous, joyful, and loving spirit, pleases God and welcomes his grace into my life.
Imagine a saint growing in holiness slowly but surely in life’s simple, routine tasks. Picture this saint buying food for the week, struggling to get out of bed in the morning, studying for an exam, shoveling snow, or commuting to work. Perhaps during one of the seemingly mundane tasks of their own life, the saint asked God, “You want to sanctify me through this?” and God whispered back a reassuring, “Yes, this.”
Throughout our lifetimes, we will each face challenging situations—receiving an unexpected medical diagnosis, deciding on a career change, overcoming a breakup, or navigating struggles with mental health. Thankfully, the small matters are constantly available to us so that when significant circumstances arise, we have already practiced how to include God in our daily life.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, may we be more prudent and wise than the dishonest steward, and use the many gifts and talents you have blessed us with to serve generously those in need and to build up your body, the Church, so that all may know the abundance of your love. Amen.
Saint of the Day
After suffering a terrible childhood, St. Joseph of Cupertino became one of the most miracle-prone saints in the Church—he was often totally consumed by prayerful rapture and was even observed levitating.
He was born 1603 in Cupertino, Italy to poor parents. His father was a carpenter, but was unable to make ends meet and had to put the family house up for sale just as his wife came to term—she bore Joseph in a shed behind the house.
Joseph’s father died when he was young, and his widowed mother abused him. Joseph’s development suffered—he had a hot temper, and became absent-minded. Village people knew him was known as “the gaper” around town because he would wander about aimlessly with his mouth open. One thing did consume his attention: he threw himself into devotional practices and grew in his faith.
When he reached maturity, he was apprenticed to a shoemaker, but failed at that position. He applied to several monasteries, but was refused. The Capuchin order accepted him on a trial basis as a lay brother, but he was inept and clumsy—he would drop whole piles of dishes, or forgot his duties, or could not be trusted with even minor responsibilities.
He returned home in a great depression. His mother was not happy to see him, and she pleaded with her brother, who was a Franciscan monk, to have him accepted to his monastery as a servant. He was taken in and given work cleaning out the stables.
The consistent work and community life seemed to suit Joseph, and he became more trustworthy and capable. He had a certain humility and sweetness, and was diligent in his prayer and devotional life—within a few years, he was accepted as a full brother in the community.
Though he struggled in his studies, and had nothing to offer in the way of eloquence, he was ordained a priest in 1628. His devotional life increased, and he took on rigorous fasting and disciplines.
After his ordination, Joseph’s life came in tune with the divine in a new and radical way. He began to experience ecstasies and visions and was a worker of miracles—more than nearly any other saint! He frequently fell into contemplative ecstasy, and could not be awakened with pinches or blows. He was friends to animals in a way that surpassed even St. Francis of Assisi. During Mass or prayer, he would often be lifted from his feet—he was observed levitating more than 70 times.
The experience of levitation is a physical expression of the deep prayer that raises the heart and mind to God. In Joseph’s case, a number of his levitations were well-documented.
In one instance, the Spanish ambassador visited Joseph’s monastery and visited Joseph in his cell. The ambassador told his wife that he had met “another St. Francis,” and she wanted to meet Joseph herself. She asked to meet him in the church, but Joseph, knowing his susceptibility to fall into rapture at even the sight of religious imagery, realized that he might not be able to speak with her.
When he entered the church, Joseph’s eyes fell on an image of Mary, and he was transported by ecstatic prayer and rose more than ten feet off the ground and flew over the heads of those present to the statue of Mary. After praying there, he flew back to the doors of the church and returned to his cell. This story was captured in depositions from eyewitnesses that were gathered for Joseph’s cause for canonization.
Joseph was moved to a monastery in Assisi, and–for a time–was treated severely by his superiors, who thought him a hypocrite or suspected he was pretending. During his time in Assisi he was visited by many prominent religious and political figures who heard of his holy miracles and took up correspondences with notable figures of his day.
“Pray,” he told everyone. “Pray. If you are troubled by dryness or distractions, simply say the Our Father. Then you make both vocal and mental prayer.”
The marvels that accompanied Joseph became a distraction to both the monastery and to others who came seeking novelty, so he was not allowed to offer Mass or pray in public, or even to eat his meals with his brothers. His order eventually isolated him and he had little contact with other members of his community.
He consented to isolation, and used solitude to commune with God on an even deeper level. He fell ill at the age of 60 and died on this date in 1663 at a Franciscan monastery in Osimo. His relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica, and he is depicted above in a painting by Ludovico Mazzanti.
St. Joseph of Cupertino, the levitating saint, pray for us!