Daily Gospel Reflection: Memorial of Saint Scholastica, Virgin
February 10, 2024
Memorial of Saint Scholastica, Virgin
Gospel: Mk 8:1-10
In those days when there again was a great crowd without anything to eat,
Jesus summoned the disciples and said,
“My heart is moved with pity for the crowd,
because they have been with me now for three days
and have nothing to eat.
If I send them away hungry to their homes,
they will collapse on the way,
and some of them have come a great distance.”
His disciples answered him, “Where can anyone get enough bread
to satisfy them here in this deserted place?”
Still he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?”
They replied, “Seven.”
He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground.
Then, taking the seven loaves he gave thanks, broke them,
and gave them to his disciples to distribute,
and they distributed them to the crowd.
They also had a few fish.
He said the blessing over them
and ordered them distributed also.
They ate and were satisfied.
They picked up the fragments left over–seven baskets.
There were about four thousand people.
He dismissed the crowd and got into the boat with his disciples
and came to the region of Dalmanutha.
*United States Conference of Catholic
Bishop Robert Barron
Friends, today we celebrate the memorial of St. Scholastica.
St. Gregory the Great tells a charming story about St. Benedict and his twin sister, Scholastica, a woman deeply devoted to God. As was her annual custom, Scholastica came to visit her brother in a small building just outside the monastery.
The two of them engaged in intense theological conversation long into the night. When Benedict announced that it was time for him to go, Scholastica begged him to stay. When he continued to insist that he return to the main house, his sister bowed her head in prayer. Immediately, a terrific storm blew up, which prevented Benedict from leaving.
“God Almighty forgive you, sister!” Benedict said. “What have you done?’
“I asked you to stay,” she said, “and you would not hear me. So I prayed to God and he heard me.”
*Smiling knowingly at Scholastica, he remained, and the two of them spoke of divine things until dawn.
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