Intro to the day: “Nothing is far from God.” –Saint Monica
Today is Wednesday of the Twenty-first Week of Ordinary Time and Memorial of St. Monica. We are praying for the faculty, staff, and families of Bishop Mussio Elementary in Steubenville, OH.
In the Gospel, Jesus continues to admonish the Pharisees for their hypocrisies.
Opening: God come to our assistance, Lord make haste to help us. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Alleluia.
Daily Psalm: Psalm 36
Gospel: Matthew 23:27-32
Saint of the Day: Blessed Dominic Barberi
Blessed Dominic Barberi was born in 179 to a poor Italian farming family. Although he received no regular education, he was taught to read by an elderly Capuchin priest who lived nearby. Dominic befriended some Passionists who were in exile due to Napoleonic suppression and felt called to join them in 1814. He was later ordained to the priesthood and taught theology and philosophy to students of the congregation, lecturing for ten years. In 1830, he began missionary work in Belgium and then England. While in England, he faced harsh anti-catholic sentiment from protestant ministers and residents. Young people would throw rocks at him, but he responded simply by kissing the stones and putting them in his pocket. Fr. Barberi was known for his sense of humor, as well as his strength and persevering love, which led many to conversion. On one occasion, a protestant minister shouted at him from the streets, denying transubstantiation, to which Dominic replied: "Jesus Christ said over the consecrated elements, 'This is my body.'" You say, "No. It is not his body!" Who then am I to believe? I prefer to believe Jesus Christ." Fr. Dominic also played a key role in converting John Henry Newman, whom he personally received into the Church only four years before his death in 1849.
Reflection: Maybe this is a bit of a tangent, but I do think it is connected to the Gospel today. Jesus is talking about the external and internal still. He calls the Pharisees and Scribes whitewashed tombs, beautiful on the outside, but rotting on the inside. There is a real danger that continues to get worse and worse in our lives and in the lives of many young people. There was a time we called it, keeping up with the Joneses. The filtered world that we once just saw through commercials, advertisements, and magazines has come knocking on each one of our doorsteps through Social Media. The perfect pose, the filter that makes us look different, the videos where all of the kids are smiling and happy, and perfect sets expectations that are not real. They appear beautiful and perfect on the outside, and this is how our young people are weighing their dignity, their value, their worth. As a result, we have increasing numbers of depression, anxiety, and even despair. What is the response? We have to train ourselves to look within, to the places that the Lord draws out what is truly beautiful in us. We need to take time to ask if we are advancing in virtue. We need to draw children’s attention to those things within them that express their true value. We have to celebrate their dignity in order to change the narrative. We need to show in some way, through a smile, a kind word, our presence, that they are beautifully and wonderfully made.
Today, let us take a few moments in silence to ask ourselves what lies we have sold ourselves. Do we feel we are not beautiful enough, funny enough, good enough? Remember, these are lies. Let’s ask the Lord in this silence to help us see ourselves as He sees us, with tremendous pride in the dignity and beauty that exists within us. Then, if we can, let’s find the person who needs to hear the same and reach out to them.
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