Wednesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

I tell you, everyone who has, more will be given, but the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. Lk 19:26

We are all called to lives of holiness and share one common vocation—the universal call to holiness to be saints. All the saints stand before the Face of God and cry out with the angels “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty!” and we can begin to experience this here and now through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

While we may not all be canonized saints like St. Gertrude, whom we remember today, we are all called to share in the heavenly reality of the beatific vision. St. Gertrude is revered by the Church as one of Her great mystics. She certainly knew of the great love that our Lord has for each of us and contemplated it deeply. She also knew of the necessity of sacrifice in the life of a Christian. She spent almost all of her life within the walls of a Benedictine Convent in Germany. Living out her religious vocation, she gave up the possibility of earthly power and wealth in order to be close to the Heart of Jesus.

Whether or not we are monks, religious sisters, or lay persons, we are called to surrender our lives. When Jesus told us that those who have will be given more, he was speaking of spiritual things, of faith, hope, and love. St. Gertrude was given great visions of heaven and sanctity because of her surrender. She experienced great love because she was willing to give everything up and simply be close to Jesus and his Most Sacred Heart. We too should live like this. We should all strive to live in radical poverty—poverty of spirit. Let us all cast down the crown of earthly pleasure so that we may win the unperishable crown of sainthood and join in the unending hymns of praise to our God of Love.

Reflection by Kaelob, seminarian