Daily Reflection Memorial of Saint Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church

Today we celebrate the memorial of Saint Gregory the Great. Gregory came from a wealthy Roman family and in his early thirties he became governor of Rome. He decided to leave that position for religious life. He was known as being generous and concerned for the poor. He founded six Benedictine monasteries on his estates in Sicily and the Abbey of St. Andrew in Rome. He later became the abbot of St. Andrews, but his quiet life did not last long as five years after becoming abbot the pope passes away and Gregory is named pope. 



This was not a title Gregory wanted, but he accepted it. He was the first pope to call himself the “servant of the servants of God.” At a time when Rome was in chaos, due to wars and famine, he was able to use his political skills, his devotion to God, and his care of the poor to reorganize the properties of the church to save Rome from famine and stop the chaos of invading tribes. Gregory not only cared for his own people, but he looked to help those in foreign lands. He sent monks to England to preach the word of God and was called the Apostle of England.



In today’s gospel Jesus is reminding the Apostles that the greatest is the least and servant to all. That was Saint Gregory. He never sought out greatness, he only wanted to serve and love God. He is a great role model for all of us. Gregory spent each day placing the needs of others before himself. He recognized the opportunities that God placed before him to reach out and care for the poor. Maybe today we can ask Jesus to open our eyes to the ways we can be more like St. Gregory in our care of those in need. 



I wonder what Gregory would have thought about being called great. I think he might have been a wee bit embarrassed by the title, but it was his love of God that shone through in all he did and that was his greatest achievement. Maybe we too should strive for greatness in our love of God and others.