Daily Gospel Reflection
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September 22, 2021
Jesus summoned the Twelve and gave them power and authority
over all demons and to cure diseases,
and he sent them to proclaim the Kingdom of God
and to heal the sick.
He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey,
neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money,
and let no one take a second tunic.
Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there.
And as for those who do not welcome you,
when you leave that town,
shake the dust from your feet in testimony against them.”
Then they set out and went from village to village
proclaiming the good news and curing diseases everywhere.
Reflection
“Why haven’t you healed me, Lord?”
This question kept presenting itself to me as I binge-watched the first season of The Chosen—the newest TV series about the life of Christ. The episodes kept showing Jesus performing miracles, and I kept bursting into tears every time he healed someone because I’ve been waiting for my own healing for a few years now.
My cross is infertility. The tidal waves of cyclical grief have waned thanks to a deepening of my faith, therapy, and tactful support from family and friends. I was also able to find comfort and assistance through amazing infertility ministries like Hope for the Journey and Springs in the Desert. However, my deep desire for a biological child has persisted over the years, and I have wondered why the Lord hasn’t healed me.
Much to my surprise, as I meditated on The Chosen, God answered.
It was in a scene where Jesus responds to someone who is struggling with the call to follow him: “It is true there is a lot you would give up, but what you would gain is far greater and more lasting.”
At that moment, I knew God was speaking directly to me. The words came through loud and clear yet gently and lovingly. I haven’t been the same since because these powerful words reminded me of God’s ultimate goodness.
As our gospel for today states, Christ gave his disciples “power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases,” but even when God’s plan isn’t to perform the miracles we seek, Christ will always bring some good out of seemingly bad circumstances. If we follow Christ with an open heart, he will change our lives in the most beautiful ways. I’ve experienced this first hand throughout my own journey, which has proven to be spiritually fruitful whenever I rely on Christ. I pray we are always open to the good news and the healing Christ brings, even if it’s different from what we may have wanted.
Prayer
Guide us Lord, in the way of your commands: Blessed are they whose way is blameless, who walk in the way of the Lord. Lead us, Lord, in the path of your commands, for in them we take delight.
Saint of the Day
Sts. Maurice, Exuperius, and Candidus were leaders of a legion of Christians in the Roman army who were killed for their Christian leadership and complete allegiance to Christ.
Around the year 287, the Roman army marched out to suppress a revolt in what is now Switzerland. The emperor, Maximian, led the army, which was composed of troops conscripted from various parts of the empire. One legion of 6,600 soldiers was recruited from northern Egypt and was composed entirely of Christians.
When the Roman legions arrived on the battlefield, Maximian ordered all soldiers to offer sacrifice to the gods for the success of the enterprise. The Christian legion withdrew from the army and refused to participate in the rites.
Several times, Maximian ordered them to obey. They refused, and he ordered that the other soldiers decimate the Christian legion—every tenth, randomly-selected soldier was executed. Maximian threatened to continue the decimations until the legion obeyed—he warned them he was willing to execute the entire legion.
Maurice, Exuperius, and Candidus led the legion, and they responded to Maximian by saying, “We are your soldiers, but we are also servants of the true God. We owe you military service and obedience, but we cannot renounce God who is our creator and master… We have arms in our hands, but we do not resist because we would rather die innocent than live by any sin.”
Maximian ordered the other legions to surround the Christians and kill them all. The ground was covered with bodies and blood, and the other soldiers looted what they could from the slain legion. One soldier, Victor, refused to participate in the massacre and looting. Soldiers asked him if he was Christian. When he answered that he was, he was killed as well.
A shrine was built above the ground where these brave soldiers died, and miracles began to be attributed to the intercession of these martyrs.
The traditional story of these martyrs has been scrutinized for its historical accuracy. As there is little supporting evidence for the slaughter of an entire legion of Roman soldiers, the account of the martyrdom has probably been exaggerated. What seems historically likely, however, is that a soldier named Maurice and a number of his companions were martyred in the third century. What remains unknown is the number who were killed; perhaps the story of the martyrdom of a small, brave squadron of Christian soldiers, over repeated tellings over many years, became the slaughter of a legion.
Relics of Sts. Maurice, Exuperius, Candidus, and Victor all rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica. The bust of St. Maurice pictured above stands in the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art—it is designed to be a reliquary vessel itself, although today it stands empty in the museum’s medieval gallery.
St. Maurice is patron saint of the Pontifical Swiss Guards at the Vatican, and also of soldiers, swordsmiths, and weavers.
Sts. Maurice, Exuperius, Candidus, and Victor, you faithfully led your legion to martyrdom—pray for us!
Image Credit: Italian, Reliquary Bust of Saint Maurice, ca. 1530, Gilt wood. Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame. Art Purchases Fund, 1962.030.