Daily Gospel Reflection
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September 25, 2023
Jesus said to the crowd:
“No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel
or sets it under a bed;
rather, he places it on a lampstand
so that those who enter may see the light.
For there is nothing hidden that will not become visible,
and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light.
Take care, then, how you hear.
To anyone who has, more will be given,
and from the one who has not,
even what he seems to have will be taken away.”
I remember my first ever visit to what was then named Sacred Heart Church at Notre Dame. I was with my parents and grandmother. I remember being very excited to see the campus for the first time. I remember seeing the steeple of Sacred Heart from a distance and thinking how big and tall it was.
Once inside, I remember how impressed I was with the size of the building and how much bigger it was than my home parish church. I remember the windows, the tabernacle, and the wax figure of Saint Servera. I remember everything about the church being bright, colorful, and awesome.
I never would have thought that years later, I would be spending many, many hours inside the building that so awed me as a child. Now the Basilica of the Sacred Heart has become my home away from home. I have spent many, many hours inside and now see more than just a bright and colorful building. Like today’s gospel message reveals to us, I know it is a lamp placed on a lampstand to draw in and light the way for the thousands of people who come to the University of Notre Dame and the Basilica of the Sacred Heart to worship, pray, and receive the sacraments.
Just as the Sacred Heart is a lamp on a lampstand drawing us in and leading us to the presence of God inside, each one of us, by our lives of faith and our actions, are also lamps, lit by God, to lead us, and others, to God.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, in baptism you enkindled in our hearts the light of Jesus Christ, your Son. Inflame that light in our lives that it may illumine all that we see, think, and do. May our lives shine brightly with your light, that we may bring its radiance into the lives of all we encounter. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Saint of the Day

While St. Vincent Strambi was a bishop who single-handedly saved a city from Napoleon’s army, he is honored even more for so faithfully loving the Christian flock he was charged to shepherd.
The son of a pharmacist, Vincent Strambi was born in Italy in 1745. As a boy, Vincent liked to play practical jokes. The plucky good nature that inspired him to constantly prank his friends also inspired him to give away his own overcoat or shoes to any homeless child he encountered.
His parents saw his faithfulness, even at his young age, and decided that he would become a diocesan priest. Vincent made a retreat before his ordination, which was led by St. Paul-of-the-Cross, who founded the Passionist order of priests, and he decided to enter that religious community instead. His parents strongly objected, which led to a prolonged confrontation between them and Vincent.
As soon as he was ordained a Passionist priest, Vincent was asked to become a leader by teaching theology and preaching to seminarians and filling administrative roles in the Passionist community. He led the Passionist community for 20 years before being elected bishop of Macareta-Tolentino, Italy.
The virtues which ruled Vincent's life as a bishop were zeal and discipline, and these virtues enriched the lives of the priests and laity of his diocese. As bishop, Vincent was especially attentive to the people in his care during both a typhoid epidemic and when a famine struck the city. In 1808, he was commanded to take an oath of obedience to Napoleon, but St. Vincent refused, and was accordingly expelled from his diocese. He continued to guide his people through correspondence.
Five years later, Napoleon was deposed and exiled, and Vincent returned to his diocese. Soon after, however, Napoleon escaped his imprisonment and, with 30,000 soldiers, occupied Macerata as his headquarters. His troops were defeated in the Battle of Tolentino and returned to sack and loot this city in their path of retreat. But Vincent went into the streets to plead with them--his courage saved the city.
After retiring as bishop, he moved to the Vatican to serve as an advisor to the Pope. He remained faithful to prayer and penance, and he died at the age of seventy-nine in 1824. His relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica and his image is used here with permission from Catholic.org.
St. Vincent Strambi, you single-handedly saved a city from Napoleon’s army--pray for us!