The Catholic Liturgy today honors one of the ancient martyrs of the Catholic Tradition, a Roman Soldier from, what is today, South-Eastern France in the Fourth Century.  Today’s date is also honored civically in the West by Armistice Day (end of World War I) and Veteran’s Day (honoring all those who have served and especially those who have died in service of our Country in war.  It is one of the national holidays in the United States as it is in most of Europe.

In my own life, November 11 has two important attachments.  I was privileged to attend High School at a Benedictine Academy (Boarding School) named for Saint Martin. Every November 11 we had a holiday from classes, had an opportunity to tour parts of the Black Hills and celebrated a glorious Liturgy of our patron.  I then attended a college established by the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, Kansas (now the University of Saint Mary) who arrived in Leavenworth from Kentucky on November 11 in 1858 to establish a religious community of Charity sisters and a women’s school of higher education.  So, we celebrated “Founders’ Day” with the sisters. 

I tell this long introduction because my own reflections on the liturgical prayers and readings from today carry this important experiential connection to the date, so important to the nations of the West, and for a different reason important in the lives of the religious communities who educated me.

Saint Martin encountered Christ as a Roman pagan, in the person of a poor beggar who was dying in the snow and cold.  Martin took his own cloak and sliced it in half, giving half to the beggar and providing him with food.  That night in a dream vision, Martin saw Christ in glory wearing the winter cloak he had given the beggar.  Martin took the vision as an invitation to follow Christ and resolved to be Baptized.  He left his military service behind and entered Sacramental Orders, being elected to serve as Bishop of the Diocese of Tours where he was such a champion of the poor and marginalized that the whole Western Church came to know of his work.

The First reading today is taken from the Second Letter of John.  The Church that is addressed by the Elder, is addressed as “Chosen Lady,” and, as the other writings of John stress, the ultimate commandment to the believers is to love one another.  This love is practically witnessed to by Saint Martin and is the theme of most of Pope Francis’ insistence today that we cannot know and follow Jesus without loving the poor – whatever their poverty may be – material, educational, political, physical, or spiritual.  To know Christ is to recognize the poverty in ourselves and in every person around us, most especially those who are dying from their poverty.

In today’s Gospel we hear Jesus warn us that we do not know the day or the hour that we will face the end of this stage of our lives.  We do not know what calamity may strike us or someone we love at any moment, we do not know if or when our material wealth, the political stability of our nation, the institution we serve or the community or family we belong to will be suddenly destroyed.  We only know that these things will happen not when. 

Pondering or praying with these two texts we might feel a dark spirit of fear.  We might be touched with the grace of repentance.  Clearly Jesus hopes we will hear His compelling call to attend to the Kingdom of love and mercy first and foremost, and to be willing to leave all else entirely in God’s hands. 

In these early days of November, on the 11th day of the 11th month of the year – we are called by Christ to recognize the end times are always upon us.  I ask myself the question frequently these days: am I ready to encounter Jesus face-to-face, and if so, will he be holding a gift that I have given someone less privileged than I out of compassion as Martin met him.  If not, I may only have today to make that possible, with God’s mercy.