Daily Gospel Reflection
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May 5, 2026
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give it to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
You heard me tell you,
‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’
If you loved me,
you would rejoice that I am going to the Father;
for the Father is greater than I.
And now I have told you this before it happens,
so that when it happens you may believe.
I will no longer speak much with you,
for the ruler of the world is coming.
He has no power over me,
but the world must know that I love the Father
and that I do just as the Father has commanded me.”
Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner. The full readings of the day from the Lectionary are available here.
The first time we dropped each of our daughters off at college, our whole family felt it. It’s that knot of love and fear Jesus names so precisely: do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. Three daughters, three different goodbyes, and each time the same feeling. Anxious. Heavy-hearted. And doing our best not to show it.
But something happens over the semesters that follow. Each goodbye gets a little different. Not easier, exactly, but… fuller. Because each time we return, we can see and feel how much they have grown. All three, across campuses in South Bend and Denver, have become more themselves with each passing year—stronger, more independent, more deeply rooted in their faith.
This spring, two of them will graduate. One from graduate school, one from undergraduate, both stepping into careers and lives that are fully their own now. The leaving feels different this time, somehow more permanent, more real. And yet Jesus speaks directly into that moment too: I am going away, and I will come back to you.
Departure is not loss. It is how love matures.
We have watched that truth live itself out in our own family. They leave. They return. And every time they come back, we recognize something new in them, something we hoped for, prayed for, and watched take root over the years.
And that, I think, is the peace Jesus means. Not the end of worry, but the freedom to trust what has already been planted in each of us.
Prayer
Dear God, our campus, our neighborhoods, our world longs for the peace that can only come from you. Help us to place our cares and our hearts in your hands. Your Son taught us to trust in you and the mystery of the cross. Help us when we are afraid to trust in you and your promise of new life. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen!
Saint of the Day
Judith, also known as Jutta, began her life as a wife and mother, and deepened her pursuit of holiness as a wandering hermit after her husband died and her children had grown.
Born to a German aristocratic family in the 13th century, she was married to a noble. She was inspired by St. Elizabeth of Hungary, a contemporary, and heard the Lord call her to follow him. She not only sought to serve God herself, but also led her household to do the same and was known for her support of the poor, in imitation of Elizabeth.
Early in their marriage, her husband thought Judith dressed too simply, and asked her to take on styles more in keeping with the fashions of the upper class. She gradually helped him see the virtue in detachment from material wealth, and he grew in his own faithfulness. He died while on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, leaving Judith to raise their family alone.
Many of her children entered monasteries as they matured, and after all had left the household, Judith gave her life to prayer and caring for the poor and sick. She gave everything she had to the poor except for one ragged dress, and went into the streets to beg for food for herself and for others.
Many people who had known her mocked and ridiculed her, but others treated her with reverence because they knew what she had given up. She wanted to separate herself from their praise, so she left and wandered the countryside, walking barefoot and helping those she encountered on her way.
She made her way into Prussia in 1260 and took up living as a hermit in a ruined building on the shore of a lake. People sought her out for her wisdom, and she was known for having instinctive insight into Scripture. She once said that three things can bring union with God: illness, exile from home, and voluntary poverty.
People who lived nearby reported seeing Judith raised from the ground in prayer, and she received a number of visions. She died of a fever after living in that place for four years, and miracles were reported to have occurred at her grave.
Judith is the patron saint of Catholics in Prussia and Germany.
St. Judith, you were a faithful wife and mother who gave your life to the poor and sick—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Judith is available for use under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Last accessed March 6, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
