Daily Gospel Reflection
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September 24, 2021
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.”
Jesus’ questions are direct. If we weren’t already acclimated to this reading from familiarity, we might find them jarring. I imagine Christ pausing mid-prayer to inquire of his disciples who the crowds believe him to be. Then, suddenly, I am part of the intimate scene—no longer an anonymous bystander as he looks intently at me—“But you, Eileen. Who do you say that I am?” Jesus has broken the fourth wall of the gospel frame and arrested my attention.
We are each called to insert our name into the gospel narrative and answer Jesus’ query because Christ wants us to know him intimately as his beloved sons and daughters. The most powerful way we are called to know Jesus is in the Holy Eucharist. The Church, as the Body of Christ, believes that the holy sacrifice of the Mass is “the source and summit of Christian spirituality.”
This priceless gift of the Real Presence was well known to Blessed Carlo Acutis, a young Italian teenager who deeply loved Jesus and spent his short life seeking to know him more fully. Blessed Carlo expressed his deep love of the Eucharist in frequent eucharistic adoration, the rosary, and daily Mass. He called the Eucharist his “highway to heaven” and dedicated himself to proclaiming the good news of eucharistic miracles by creating an international exhibition and website. As he explained, “To always be close to Jesus, that’s my life plan.”
The examples of our Lady, Blessed Carlo, and the communion of saints witness to us that we are called to be missionaries in our daily spheres, transforming our knowledge of Christ into concrete acts of mercy. A daunting vocation? Perhaps at first glance, but Jesus promises us that he will not leave us orphans. Rather, he draws close to us and invites us to know him more fully. How humbling and encouraging that when Christ asks each of us the central question from today’s reading, we can hold the Eucharist in our hands and respond “Amen” to “The Christ of God.”
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
Formerly known as Our Lady of Ransom, Our Lady of Mercy is celebrated today primarily by the Mercedarians, an order of Augustinian friars who honor her as their patron. Now known as the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy, the Mercedarians were founded in 1218 by a Spanish merchant, Peter Nolasco. Peter received a vision of Mary in which she asked him to found a religious order to ransom Christian captives from Muslim rulers in the south of Spain. Since the first Umayyad conquest of the southern Iberian Peninsula in the eighth century, fighting between Christians and Muslims had been a regular fixture of the Spanish political landscape. Christian and Muslim armies would often take captives from opposing factions and force their enslaved prisoners to convert. For Peter Nolasco, the Christian captives were truly “the least of these” because their Christian faith—the source of their joy and hope—was in dire peril.
Today, the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy is an international community of priests and brothers who work among a variety of marginalized populations. In addition to the three Evangelical Counsels—vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience—the friars of Our Lady of Mercy take a special fourth vow to give entirely of themselves to those whose faith is in danger.
After the Second Vatican Council, the feast of Our Lady of Ransom was renamed Our Lady of Mercy. Eventually, this Marian feast was removed from the general Roman Calendar, but Our Lady of Mercy continues to be honored by the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy. Today, friars of the Order of Mercy work among those who suffer from social, political, or psychological forms of captivity. The friars bring their charism of liberation to those captive in jails, those living in marginalized neighborhoods, and to those suffering from addiction. The Order of Mercy also gives special emphasis to offering freedom through education, striving to spread the liberating truth of Christ through catechesis and parish work.
Our Lady of Mercy can be a recourse for those suffering from addiction or for those trapped in the throes of mental illness. She can be a patron for men and women in imprisonment, for those unjustly sentenced, and for those suffering from loneliness and isolation. Our Lady of Mercy can serve as a guide to interreligious unity, so that our relations with our brothers and sisters of other faiths is not one of violence or fear, but one that recognizes our common belovedness as children of God.
Although Our Lady of Mercy is no longer celebrated on the general Roman calendar, she is honored in a particular way on Notre Dame’s campus, as the Geddes Hall chapel is dedicated to Mary, Our Lady of Mercy. Our Lady of Mercy is both a fitting intercessor for a world in great need of mercy and a fitting patroness for Geddes Hall, which houses the Institute for Social Concerns and the McGrath Institute for Church Life, organizations which, like many others at Notre Dame, work to bring the message of salvation to a world in need.
Our Lady of Mercy, help of God’s children throughout the world—pray for us!