Memorial of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
Today's Mass Readings
Today we commemorate a saint who made great sacrifices in order to dedicate her life to the service of Christ. Elizabeth was a queen, married at age 14 and widowed by age 21 with three children. During her reign as a queen she spent much of her time assisting the poor, and following her husband’s death, she made formal vows to religious life and renounced her wealth. Elizabeth is honored in Germany and Hungary for her dedication to those in need. What could have motivated such a privileged woman to live her life in this way? Today’s Scripture readings provide some answer to this question; St. Elizabeth was motivated by the gospel message of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection to give glory to God in her life. In today’s gospel passage from Luke we encounter yet another healing story. In this case it is a blind man who relentlessly calls to Jesus for healing. The blind man was granted this healing, and upon receiving his sight, he followed Jesus giving glory to God, and “When they saw this, all the people gave praise to God” (Lk 18:53). This healing has a symbolic level inasmuch as Jesus comes to bring healing for all of us; he brings us sight that we may see life as it really is and justly praise God.
Today we also begin the book of Revelation. This book is perhaps one of most difficult to understand in the entire Bible. It is highly symbolic and often confusing, and we begin meditating on it as we continue to head toward the end of our liturgical year. In its symbolism, the book of Revelation seems to describe a sort of cosmic battle, where good and evil battle and good ultimately triumphs in the form of a slain lamb that represents Christ’s victory on the cross. Some scholars believe that the book of Revelation on some level describes the Mass. Its language is often liturgical (it is the language of worship, and in fact, is used in our liturgical worship).
We might also note that this book is written as a letter from John to the seven churches of Asia. Today’s excerpt is addressed particularly to the Church of Ephesus. With God’s instruction, John tells the Church of Ephesus that it has succeeded in discerning truth and living virtuously. Yet he also accuses it of having lost that loving feeling. Love is that which transforms their deeds into something more than good; love is what makes those works holy; love is what makes those works glorifying to God. Hence the Lord is calling the Church in Ephesus to repent, and to reclaim their sanctified work.
Like the Church in Ephesus, our Church today is called to glorify God in all that we do. To the extent that we fail at this, we are called to repent and seek ever more fully God’s grace to live holy lives. Today’s readings, then, provide several practical ways in which we may live this out. First, we must worship God, most especially in the Mass and in persistent prayer. We are called to praise God and give him glory for the goodness that we witness in our lives or the lives of others. Second, we must embody the Mass, we must embody worship in our daily lives, giving witness to our Christian commitment. All that we do each day ought to glorify God because it has been transformed by His love. Third, when we do not worship and live holy lives, we need to repent, recognizing our dependence on God and our sinfulness. In so doing, we will find ourselves increasingly transformed such that we can worship better and live holier lives.
- Maria Morrow