Daily Gospel Reflection
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July 12, 2026
On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea.
Such large crowds gathered around him
that he got into a boat and sat down,
and the whole crowd stood along the shore.
And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying:
“A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path,
and birds came and ate it up.
Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil.
It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep,
and when the sun rose it was scorched,
and it withered for lack of roots.
Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.
But some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit,
a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
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.
I recently learned the gardening term, “companion planting.” It’s the practice of growing specific plants near each other so that they might support one another as they grow. As a self-proclaimed non-gardener (the Lego “bouquet” of flowers on my desk can attest to this), I still find myself relating wholeheartedly to this idea, though not in a “dirt under my fingernails” sort of way.
This school year, I had the immense gift of studying abroad in Rome, arriving in August and not heading back stateside until mid-May. As the most life-changing year of my life, it was ripe with lessons learned. The most profound of these lessons came while spending countless waking hours with my 53 architecture classmates: you simply cannot get by without relying on one another. Strikingly, I learned that this vulnerability is not a sign of weakness, for we have the example of Christ himself, in all his humanity and divinity, accepting Simon the Cyrene’s help on his way to Calvary.
As the months in Rome went by and I tried—and failed—to bottle up my homesickness, stress, and travel fatigue, I finally realized that the friends surrounding me, my weekly Bible study group, and the family I called daily were the very plants God had willed to take root in my life. This community in Rome, where I gradually grew to thrive, is exactly the “rich soil” that Christ speaks of in today’s gospel. It was truly the Body of Christ on earth. I discovered that this mutual reliance paired with my faith in God is largely the whole point of our lives—and it is actually what makes this life all the more of an adventure.
Prayer
Lord God, we give thanks to all who planted and toiled in the fields to produce the food that will nourish us this day. Help us similarly to plant and sow seeds of compassion, love and forgiveness to all whom we encounter this day. Be with us Lord as we sow these seeds of Your goodness, for you are our One God, forever and ever. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Louis and Zélie Martin were an inspirational couple, devoted to God and one another, and faithful and holy parents who helped each other and their children to sainthood.
Louis was born on August 22, 1823, in Bordeaux. Zélie was born Marie-Azélie Guérin in northwest France, in a town very near Alençon, on December 23, 1831.
Louis was the third of five children. Louis desired to become a monk and wanted to join the Augustinian Monastery of St. Bernard in the Alps, the famous monks who rescued wayward vacationers or travelers in the cold mountains.
Louis went to the monastery to discern a vocation but was turned away because he could not learn Latin sufficiently. Dejected, Louis left the monastery but returned to the world and became a watchmaker. He settled down in Alençon.
Zélie was the second-oldest daughter, from a large family like her husband's. Also like Louis, Zélie yearned to join religious life. But she was not strong enough and suffered from too poor health to join Vincent de Paul's order of sisters, the Sisters of Charity. Zélie took up lacemaking and became a widely recognized manufacturer of Alençon lace. There, in Alençon, the watchmaker and lacemaker fell in love, and Zélie and Louis were married in 1858 in the Basilica of Notre-Dame in Alençon. Twelve years later, Louis sold his watchmaking business to go into business with his wife, whose lacemaking business was booming.
For ten months after their wedding, the couple did not consummate their marriage. Since they had both so deeply longed for religious life, they continued to live like Mary and Joseph. Their spiritual director encouraged them to live as husband and wife, and they ended up having nine children, only five of whom lived past infancy.
Zélie and Louis were devastated by the loss of four children, but they vowed to pour their love into the children that God granted life to.
Louis and Zélie were affectionate and deeply sentimental parents, expressing their love and devotion to each other, their children, and their God without embarrassment. Sadly, Zélie died of breast cancer in 1877. Louis left Alençon and settled his family near Zélie's brother in Lisieux. Soon, Pauline joined Carmel, then Marie, then Thérèse, and finally Céline. Léonie, the middle daughter, joined the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary. Louis watched as his daughters fulfilled their parents' dreams of giving their lives over to God.
In 1889, Louis was paralyzed by back-to-back strokes, and he spent the remainder of his life in hospice care. In 1892, he returned to Lisieux, where Céline and Léonie cared for him in his final days, before he died in July 1894.
Louis and Zélie were canonized on October 18, 2015.
Sts. Louis and Zélie, parents of St. Thérèse the Little Flower—pray for us!
Image Credit: (1) Our featured image of St. Zélie Martin is in the public domain. Last accessed March 20, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons. (2) Our image of St. Louis Martin is also in the public domain and was last accessed March 20, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
