Daily Gospel Reflection
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September 3, 2023
Jesus began to show his disciples
that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly
from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.
Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him,
“God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.”
He turned and said to Peter,
“Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
Then Jesus said to his disciples,
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory,
and then he will repay all according to his conduct.”
I cannot imagine the panic and pain the disciples felt about the truth just revealed: Jesus’ death. They must have felt powerless in the face of what their beloved teacher announced—his passing through the cross to fulfill his salvific mission. And I think that, given the great weight of what Jesus had declared, the good news of his resurrection was, in those moments, hardly in the disciples’ minds.
Today’s gospel connects me with a service collaboration I have been involved with for many years. In this group, we work for the education and emotional and spiritual development of girls that, due to orphanhood, abandonment, or juvenile delinquency, live in a shelter away from their family (if they have one). All these girls find themselves living where they cannot or do not know how to build a moral, meaningful life full of love towards God, themselves, and others.
Several volunteers perform the work mentioned above at this shelter with love and perseverance, despite the challenges of insecurity and the many voices trying to dissuade them from participating in this extraordinary life project. Other collaborators at this site are high school students. They are responsible for teaching fundamentals like reading and writing to adults living in extreme poverty and with scarce opportunities.
Through my experiences, I have realized that extending a hand to those who need it is one way Jesus calls us to lose our lives for his sake and receive the reward he offers us.
If we set our minds on donating part of our time, knowledge, and experience in favor of those who need it most, we discover in ourselves feelings of joy and satisfaction from being part of something greater. And in time, we find ourselves building a more fulfilling life and moving forward along the path toward the kingdom of heaven.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you challenge us to deny ourselves, to pick up our cross and to follow you daily. Give us the humility and strength to bear our burdens with peace and joy as we strive to walk in your footsteps. Help us to let go of ourselves, to let your life fill our hearts. Guide us to your salvation. We ask this in your name. Amen.
Saint of the Day

St. Gregory the Great was a civilian official before becoming a monk, a cardinal, and finally, one of the most influential popes the Church has ever known.
He was born in 540, the son of a wealthy Roman senator. He was educated by the best teachers in Rome, and when he was still a young man, the emperor named him chief magistrate of Rome.
He filled this role for five years but clearly had other desires on his heart than his political career. When his father died, Gregory turned his home into a monastery and became a monk. He used his inheritance to build six other monasteries in the region.
When it came time to select a new pope, the faithful unanimously selected him by popular acclaim. As pope, Gregory was filled with zeal—he worked tirelessly and his contributions profoundly shaped the life of the Church.
As leader of the Church, he kept a close watch over the clergy and encouraged them towards holiness. He used papal money to ransom prisoners and to care for persecuted Jews and victims of famine and sickness. People of his day called him the father of the city of Rome, and the joy of the world.
He once observed English children being sold in the Roman Forum as slaves, and the sight made him decide to send missionaries to Canterbury—this was the beginning of Christianity among the Anglo-Saxons. He also sent missionaries to France, Spain, and parts of Africa during a time when Europe was being overturned by Lombards, barbarian forces from the north. These efforts helped Christianize these forces—Gregory himself went to visit the king of the Lombards.
Gregory is known best for his contributions to the liturgy. He reformed the Mass and the daily prayer of the Church and wrote prayers we still use today as well as commentaries on Scripture that shaped theology through the Middle Ages. He also collected melodies of plain chant used in the liturgy—today that style is known as Gregorian chant, after him.
Gregory is one of the four great doctors of the Church, along with St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, and St. Jerome. These four and 33 other doctors have been singled out for their ability to articulate and teach the faith.
Gregory died in 604, and his relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica. He is patron of teachers and students, musicians and masons. He is depicted in several places on campus, here in stained glass from the Basilica and the second window from the chapel in Lyons Hall. He is often shown with a bird nearby—it is said that the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove spoke into his ear when he preached.
“The proof of love is in the works,” St. Gregory said. “Where love exists, it works great things. But when it ceases to act, it ceases to exist.”
Pope St. Gregory the Great, you were the monk who became one of the greatest popes ever—pray for us!