Memorial of St. John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Today's Mass Readings

We are presented with some of the basics of our Catholic Christian faith these days.

Yesterday, the letter to the Colossians spelled out for us just who Jesus is—the one in whom the fullness of deity resides. He saved us from sin “by canceling the bond which stood against us, snatching it up and nailing it to the cross.” God triumphed in the person of Christ. Because of that, we have been raised up to new life in God, and we are urged to set our hearts on what pertains to the higher realms. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel gives us the charter of Jesus’ way with the Beati¬tudes. The description of the Christian way of being in the world and in relation to others.

Today is the memorial of St. John Chrysostom, bishop, doctor, and renowned preacher, often called the patron of preachers. He spent some years as a monk following a strict regimen which he later set aside and was ordained a presbyter. In one of his sermons on the priesthood, he said this: “I do not think it possible for a man to be saved who has never done anything for the salvation of others.” Something to think about these days. How often and how much are we able to do something good for a brother or sister? And we remember what we heard on Sunday and stays with us throughout this week: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst?”

Reflection by Fr. Peter Ullrich, OSB