09/03/2021 – Pope St Gregory the Great

Dia dhuit,

There are only three Popes who have the title of “great,” although many think St John Paul II will make it four. One of those three is St Gregory the Great (died 604 AD) and we honour him today. He was born into an aristocratic family in Rome, and he became the Prefect of the City. He loved the faith however and founded monasteries in Rome and also Sicily (a few there). He eventually became a monk himself, and became the first monk to become Pope.He referred to himself as “servant of the servants of God. “How beautiful! That tells you a lot about him. St Paul speaks to us in our First Reading today and he says that: “Christ Jesus is the image of the unseen God.” This is wonderful to think about.If we therefore want to know what God is like we can think about Jesus, and what He has revealed about Himself. For instance, remember when Jesus refers to Himself as “gentle and humble of heart,” we can apply that to God.Our God is gentle and humble of heart. Wow! Do people realise that? Isn’t this why Jesus asked St Faustina to reveal to the world His great love and unfathomable mercy. This too is our mission dear friends, as Mother Teresa used to say, to show the world the love of God.

God bless you,
Fr Marius

Today’s readings are available at: https://www.catholicireland.net/readings/