Friends, in the next few days, we will close another year of grace. With the Solemnity of Christ the King and Thanksgiving, families and individuals look forward to summarizing our lives before the Lord.
In Jesus’ Gospel parable, He reminds us of God's grace entrusted to us in faith and challenges us to risk multiplying that grace in the time allotted to us on earth.
Living Boldly
Here is an example of one man who boldly lived and shared his faith.
In 1908, the famous Anglo-French historian and writer, Hilaire Belloc [BELL-ock], ran for the British Parliament. His opponents tried to scare off his supporters by claiming that Belloc’s faithfulness to the Catholic Church would inhibit him from being objective. Belloc responded in a speech:
“Gentlemen, I am a Catholic. As far as possible, I go to Mass every day. This [taking his beads out of his pocket] is a Rosary. As far as possible, I kneel down and tell its beads every day. If you reject me on account of my religion, I shall thank God for having spared me the indignity of being your representative.”
The crowd was shocked for a minute and then burst out in applause. Belloc went on to win that election and many more.
If Catholics cannot bring Christ’s wisdom, goodness, and grace into our society, what do we have to offer?
A New Significance
St. Peter’s Square in Rome, there stands an ancient Egyptian obelisk – a single block of granite almost 100 feet high and weighing 330 tons. It dates back 1850 BC. Erected as a monument to Pharaoh, it watched over almost two thousand years of Egyptian history.
The Roman Emperor, Caligula, brought it to Rome as a sign of Rome’s superior power over Egypt. Emperor Nero placed it atop his circus on Vatican Hill. There it stood for four more centuries, The obelisk stood in the arena where St. Peter himself was martyred, along with hundreds of other early Christians.
When the barbarians invaded Rome, they toppled it and left it in ruin.
When St. Peter’s Basilica was rebuilt and expanded, Pope Sixtus V had the obelisk re-erected in the center of the plaza. No longer is it a reminder of the long-perished empires of Egypt, Rome and the barbarian hoards. Now it is topped with a bronze cross, and inside that bronze cross is a small fragment of the true cross, the cross on which Christ was crucified.
Now it serves the universal Kingdom that will have no end, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
For Our Reflection
The end of this Church year causes us to pause and take a spiritual inventory. From today's gospel, we might ask ourselves, what am I doing with my gold coin? or, in other words, how am I multiplying God's grace entrusted to me?
- Father Willy's inspirational homily was recorded live during Mass at the Father Peyton Center this morning. You can view the Mass (and the Rosary at the 30-minute mark) on the Family Rosary YouTube page.
- To join the Rosary and Mass Livestream, visit the Family Rosary YouTube or Facebook page at 11:30 a.m. Eastern, Monday – Friday. Consider inviting others to join too! (*If you are not a member of Facebook and a signup window appears, simply select the X at the top of the pop-up message and continue to the livestream.)
