Daily Gospel Reflection
Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.
September 22, 2022
Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening,
and he was greatly perplexed because some were saying,
“John has been raised from the dead”;
others were saying, “Elijah has appeared”;
still others, “One of the ancient prophets has arisen.”
But Herod said, “John I beheaded.
Who then is this about whom I hear such things?”
And he kept trying to see him.
This passage in Luke takes place after Jesus has performed several miracles and has just sent out the twelve disciples. All of Galilee is buzzing about this miracle worker, and the twelve themselves are now healing, casting out demons, and proclaiming the good news, further spreading Christ’s fame.
Herod was “greatly perplexed” and desired to meet Jesus in person. I can envision Herod seeing Jesus off in the distance, craning and struggling for a better look, but for Herod, Jesus is just a celebrity. He is only looking for a show to be entertained.
Ultimately, we know Herod meets Jesus at the end of Luke’s Gospel. In a persistent immaturity, he still wants Christ to perform some sort of sign, like a magic trick. But when Jesus won’t perform and won’t answer questions, Herod impatiently sends him back to Pilate, unimpressed.
I have to ask myself, how often do I see Jesus in this same sort of way? How often at Mass do I superficially watch the priest raise the Host, stare at the bread in front of me, and don’t meet Jesus with the eyes of faith? We can be craning our necks just to get a glimpse of Jesus as a curiosity, but without an open heart of faith, we cannot truly see him for who he is.
Jesus desires us to truly and fully see him beyond being a mere spectacle. He wants us to see him more deeply so that we can see him for who he is—the Son of God, the Christ, our Savior, brother, and friend.
Prayer
Almighty God, you are the source of our love and our faith. May your gifts help us strive to see your Son and follow him with courage. May our lives reflect the faith of the great women and men who have gone before us proclaiming the good news. May your strength be with us, that we may stand against whatever storms and terrors may come. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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: Unknown artist, Northern Italian, Reliquary Bust of Saint Maurice, c. 1530, gilt carved wood. Raclin Murphy Museum of Art: University of Notre Dame Purchase Fund, 1962.030.