Daily Gospel Reflection for August 9, 2024

Join us as we reflect, ponder, and pray together inspired by today's Gospel.

Today's Gospel: Matthew 16:24-28

Edith Stein (aka St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) knew a thing or two about today’s Gospel. A German-born Jew, she rejected God in her teen years and sought truth in philosophy. Just before her 30th birthday in 1921, Edith read an autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila and realized, “This is the truth.” Six months later, she was baptized Catholic, causing much distress to her widowed mother. Despite a yearning to join the Carmelites, Edith earned her doctorate and became a well-known professor. Finally, in 1933, Edith left her old life behind to enter the cloistered community. However, even as St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, she wasn’t safe from the growing political turmoil of late 1930s Germany. Although the Carmelites transferred Edith to Holland, in 1942 the SS arrested and shipped her to Auschwitz via train. Upon arrival, everyone on board was sent directly to the gas chambers.

As wives and mothers, we don’t easily identify with St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross’s sacrifices or the cross she bore to follow Christ. But we can identify with today’s Gospel in our own way. Motherhood brings with it a sense of denying our former self and taking on a new identity united in love for others. We are not who we were before we became mothers. And our daily cross means patiently choosing to put others' needs ahead of our own. Works of mercy come alive in our household as we provide food, drink, shelter, and comfort from a heart full of love. What can we give in exchange for our life? Everything, if it means that our children know God, love God, and serve God. They learn from our example how to love others.

Ponder:

Reflect on the love you have for your own children. Now consider the great love God has for you as His own child.

Pray:

God, thank You for the gift of my children. Allow me to lead them to Your love, always.

Copyright 2024 Shelly Henley Kelly