Daily Gospel Reflection
Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.
April 16, 2025
The one who comes from above is above all.
The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things.
But the one who comes from heaven is above all.
He testifies to what he has seen and heard,
but no one accepts his testimony.
Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy.
For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God.
He does not ration his gift of the Spirit.
The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life,
but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life,
but the wrath of God remains upon him.
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.
Earthly things challenge all of us every day, but I was particularly intrigued in today’s gospel by the notion of “speak[ing] of earthly things.” I often struggle with the temptation of gossip, which is almost by definition composed of earthly topics.
In recent months, as changes have happened at work and in life, I have found myself giving in more frequently to gossiping about earthly things. Gossiping often makes us feel included—that someone chose us to belong and receive special information. It can feel good to be included in the group. However, gossip also has an exclusionary aspect as well. That information that someone is spreading (maybe we are even the ones spreading it) makes the subject of the gossip “the other.” They are not in the circle or the group and do not know what people are saying.
This exclusion reveals that this is not the work of God or of “heavenly things.” Like the passage notes, God “does not ration his gift of the spirit.” God’s love excludes no one. Recognizing how hurtful and unloving exclusion is has become a reminder for me to try to remove myself from gossip.
I know that my attempts at rejecting gossip won’t always be met well. The gospel tells us that, too. It highlights that no one accepts the testimony of the one speaking of heavenly things. However, that rejection is far better than the rejection someone feels after gossip about them spreads.
This passage is a strong reminder of the difficulty that accompanies resisting temptation and earthly things, but it also encourages us simultaneously by noting the endless nature of love and heaven. Hopefully, the passage can prompt us all to respond with inclusion and love to others today and always.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, you love your Son Jesus and give everything and everyone over to him. May you make of us an everlasting gift to you, that we may always be grateful and sing your praises with joy-filled hearts. Amen.
Saint of the Day
The story of Bernadette and the visions of Mary that she received in Lourdes is well-known. Notre Dame’s own Grotto replicates the Lourdes grotto on a one-seventh scale and is a center of prayer on campus.
Bernadette’s own story, however, is more obscure. She was the oldest of six children born to a poor miller and his wife. The family business did not thrive, and the family lived in poverty. Bernadette had to work instead of going to school, and was hired out as a servant for two years when she was 12. At the time of the visions, the family was living in the basement of a worn-down building in town. On top of her poverty, Bernadette suffered from asthma and was never consistently healthy. People did not think her to be bright.
The apparitions gathered an extreme amount of attention for Bernadette. Anti-clerical French authorities tried to scare her into retracting her account because of the crowds of pilgrims who gathered at the cave where Mary, Our Lady of Lourdes, appeared to her. She was questioned, cross-examined, and interviewed unceasingly.
In addition, the pilgrims who came to Lourdes sought her out, looking for the miraculous. They tried to cut pieces from her dress, and they asked her to bless things. Many tried to give her money, but she and her family refused so as not to appear to be profiting from the apparition.
After a few years, Bernadette went to a convent of nuns who cared for the sick and the poor. She was both, so they took her in as a member of their community. They taught her to read and write, though she was often mistreated by her superiors.
When the church that Mary had asked for was built, Bernadette excused herself from the celebration of its consecration. She was always humble and very simple—she compared herself to a broom, saying, “Our Lady used me. They have put me back in my corner. I am happy there.”
She continued to suffer from asthma and other illnesses and died in the convent at the age of 35 in 1879. She is depicted in a statue at the Grotto on campus, as well as in a stained glass window in the Howard Hall chapel. Her relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Notre Dame's campus.
St. Bernadette, you received visions of Mary at Lourdes and lived a simple life of humility—pray for us!