Pope St. Gregory the Great

posted in: Homilies, Saints | 0

Today’s readings

St. Gregory showed a great deal of promise at a young age.  He had a stellar political career, becoming prefect of Rome before the age of thirty.  After a short time, he resigned his office and dedicated his life to the priesthood.  He joined a Benedictine monastery and became abbot, founding several other monasteries during his time there.  Eventually he was called to become the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, and he dedicated his papal ministry to reforming the Church, the Liturgy, and its priests.  He spent a good deal of time and money ransoming political prisoners of the Lombards, and helped to stabilize the social climate somewhat during a time of great strife in the medieval world.  He always stood ready to renounce his own ambitions to follow Christ, and gave himself to Jesus’ call in today’s Gospel reading, “from now on you will be catching men.”  The medieval world and the Church owe a great deal to Gregory’s faithful ministry, and for this we call him “Gregory the Great.”