Memorial of Saint Leo the Great, pope and doctor of the Church

Memorial of Saint Leo the Great, pope and doctor of the Church

Biographical Information about St. Leo the Great
Readings for Friday

Reading 1 Phil 3:17—4:1

Responsorial Psalm Ps 122:1-2, 3-4ab, 4cd-5
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

Gospel Lk 16:1-8

Reflection:

“For many, as I have often told you
and now tell you even in tears,
conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ.
Their end is destruction.
Their God is their stomach;
their glory is in their “shame.” (Phil 3: 18-19)

Paul has a way of putting things that helps us understand instantly that truth is eternal. Here, in this one short phrase he describes the battle between those who find the message of Christ to be too much to bear.

Paul echoes a truth about the Lord we find elsewhere in scripture. In James we hear; “Adulterers! Do you not know that to be a lover of the world means enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wants to be a lover of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (Jas 4: 4)

This then is Paul’s message for us today, that we follow Christ in his commandments or we follow the world and make ourselves enemies of God and his only Son. We chose to live lives focused on love and compassion for others or we focus on material things for ourselves (their God is their stomach…). We live lives that avoid sin or we embrace hedonism, self gratification, and the demeaning of others (their glory is their shame...).

These are the choices Paul speaks of today and it is clear that those same choices have been available and taken by those generations that have gone before us through the countless ranks of forefathers throughout the history of the world. Each day those same choices are ours to reject because, as hard as we try, temptation marches in lockstep with us, kept at bay by the Holy Spirit.


Today we cannot overlook that we celebrate the Memorial of St. Leo the Great, one of the Doctors of the Church to whom we owe so much. His biography and writings are truly inspiring. Without him it might have taken centuries for the creedal statements of the Church to come together especially with regard to the nature and essence of Jesus Christ, true God and True man.

Today, even as we reflect upon the line in the Lord’s prayer that says; “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”, we also pray with the Church:

O Lord our God, grant that your Church, following the teaching of your servant Leo of Rome, may hold fast the great mystery of our redemption, and adore the one Christ, true God and true Man, neither divided from our human nature nor separate from your divine Being; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

Pax