Daily Gospel Reflection
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September 18, 2024
Jesus said to the crowds:
“To what shall I compare the people of this generation?
What are they like?
They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another,
‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance.
We sang a dirge, but you did not weep.’
For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine,
and you said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’
The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said,
‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard,
a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’
But wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”
As I prepare to return to the Notre Dame campus in June 2025 to celebrate my 50-year class, I look forward to reuniting with classmates and spending time reflecting on our life events. Each of us, with our own unique talents, has traveled different paths in our personal, professional, and faith journeys. Soon, we will assemble at the place where it all began.
As I read today’s Gospel, I reflect upon Luke’s account of Jesus, pondering, “To what shall I compare the people of this generation?” I have come to accept that there will be a time when we will be held accountable for our lives. I accept that I will be judged on what I have done and also on what I have failed to do.
In my personal discernment, I ask myself: Have I kept the commandments and asked for forgiveness when I have failed? Have I used my talents to the best of my abilities for the service of others? Have I forgiven trespasses? Have I served the tired, the poor, the hungry, and the sick? Have I let earthly gains encumber my path? Have I made a positive contribution to my generation? Do I believe in one God, Father almighty maker of heaven and earth?
I admit, through my own fault, I have often traveled as the prodigal son. I pray that my judge forgives these trespasses and recognizes that through those experiences, I have
gained the wisdom to be accepted as a disciple. To quote Saint Basil. “A tree is known by its fruits: a man by his deeds… it is not he who begins well who is perfect. It is he who ends well who is approved in God’s sight.”
Christ says, “Wisdom is vindicated by all her children.” I pray that we each continue to ask our Lord for wisdom daily.
Prayer
Almighty God, in your Son, we are given new hope that through him, all divisions can be healed, all sins forgiven, and trust restored. Watch over us and those we love, that we may always be a sign of your reconciling love in a world full of hurt and betrayal. We ask this through Christ our Lord. 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 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!