Daily Gospel Reflection
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September 23, 2022
Once when Jesus was praying in solitude,
and the disciples were with him,
he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”
They said in reply, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah;
still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’”
Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter said in reply, “The Christ of God.”
He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.
He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.”
Who is Jesus? Just as in today’s gospel, this question continues to receive a variety of answers from people. Some still acclaim Jesus as “a great prophet,” “an important spiritual figure,” or “a wise teacher.”
For my part, I have always felt particular pride in thinking I know the correct answer to this question. Jesus wasn’t just a moral exemplar to be imitated or a religious genius to be listened to, but God incarnate, who deserves nothing less than our worship and praise.
Although I must admit that I have rarely confessed my faith in Jesus Christ with the same confidence and zeal as Peter, I was luckily taught from an early age to reject distorted understandings of the man from Nazareth that ultimately fail to capture the essence of who he is.
Yet, like Peter, I have found that knowing the right answer can sometimes be just as much of a hindrance as a help toward loving the crucified and risen Lord.
It is a constant temptation, even for those inside the church, to measure the person of Jesus according to human standards of what God must be like, rather than let a personal encounter with the Word made flesh transform these standards.
As the disciples will soon discover, it is only by taking up our cross and following Christ to Calvary that we come to understand who God truly is.
Today, let us enter along with them into the holy solitude of Jesus, opening ourselves up to an ever greater understanding and love of God. Let us not be content with simply knowing some of the correct answers but seek to rediscover the mystery of the God who suffered, died, and rose again.
Prayer
Jesus Christ is Lord. This is our profession, but we can struggle to live it out. By God’s Grace we can continue to give over every part of our lives, every part of ourselves, into Christ’s hands. As the Constitutions of Holy Cross state, “There is no failure the Lord’s love cannot reverse, no humiliation he cannot exchange for blessing, no anger he cannot dissolve, no routine he cannot transfigure. All is swallowed up in victory.” Jesus, do not relent until every part of us proclaims your name. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, commonly known as Padre Pio, was a Franciscan friar who lived during the first half of the 20th century. He received the stigmata, the wounds of Jesus’ crucifixion, and manifested other supernatural signs of holiness during his life.
Padre Pio was born in 1887 in Pietrelcina, a small town in southern Italy, and baptized with the name Francesco. His parents were deeply religious—they led the family to daily Mass, prayed the rosary every night, and fasted from meat three times a week in honor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Although his parents couldn’t read, they memorized Scripture faithfully and told stories from the Bible to their children.
Francesco was immersed in a world of faith—he dedicated himself to Jesus at the age of 5 and reportedly related to Jesus, Mary, and his guardian angel as close friends. When he was 10, he met a Franciscan friar who was traveling the countryside asking for donations and he told his parents that he wanted to do the same with his life.
They took him to a nearby Franciscan community to see if the friars would accept him. The friars said that Francesco was suited for religious life, but needed more education than his sporadic attendance at the local public school had given him. His father traveled to New York several times to find better work in order to pay for a tutor for his son.
When he was fifteen, Francesco entered the community and adopted the name Pius—or Pio, in Italian—in honor of St. Pius V, the patron saint of Pietrelcina. He began studying for the priesthood and was ordained in 1910.
In 1917, he was briefly drafted to serve in World War I but was discharged due to ill health. Throughout his life, Pio would continue to suffer from various illnesses.
Upon his arrival in the community, Pio reported seeing visions of Jesus, Mary, and angels. After offering Mass one day in 1918, Pio received a vision of Jesus. As the apparition ended, the wounds of the crucifixion appeared on Pio's hands, feet, and side. The blood that seeped from these wounds smelled sweet and fragrant, like the perfume of flowers, and the wounds never became infected. Despite the examination of several doctors, the phenomena were medically inexplicable. The stigmata would remain on Pio's body for the rest of his life.
Pio dreaded the attention the stigmata brought him, and he often wore bandages or mittens over his hands to cover up the wounds. Nevertheless, Christian faithful continually sought him out. Pio demonstrated other signs of great power and holiness—he was known to bilocate, that is, to be seen in two places simultaneously; he could read people’s hearts upon the first encounter, and his prayer was known to heal the sick. As a young archbishop in Poland, the future Pope John Paul II once wrote to Padre Pio to ask for his prayers for a woman with terminal throat cancer. Within weeks, the woman was fully healed.
These signs brought Pio an abundance of attention, and church officials struggled with managing the endless flow of pilgrims. The Vatican needed to be sure that the miracles surrounding Pio were authentic and wanted to reduce potentially dangerous publicity, so they forbade Padre Pio from offering Mass in public. They considered moving him to a different Franciscan community, but, upon hearing the news, the pious locals threatened to riot. Officials decided to let Pio remain where he was, as there were, regardless, few friaries available that were more remote than his.
By 1933, the officials made up their minds in his favor, and the Vatican began to promote Pio’s ministry. His day was filled with hearing confessions for more than twelve hours at a time. Pilgrims spent the night outside in line, waiting for the chance to confess to him and receive his advice. One of his famous mottos was, “Pray, hope, and don’t worry.”
Padre Pio received visitors in person and also corresponded with souls all over the world. After celebrating Mass and attending to correspondence, sometimes Pio only had a few hours to sleep every night. Around the time of World War II, Pio announced a plan to build a hospital near the Franciscan community, and his hospital was completed after the war.
In the 1960s, Padre Pio’s health began to deteriorate. On the fiftieth anniversary of receiving the stigmata, he fell ill and passed away a few days later, on this date in 1968. When his body was examined after death, the stigmata had disappeared.
Saint Pius of Pietrelcina—Padre Pio—you bore the wounds of Jesus’ crucifixion on your body—pray for us!