Daily Gospel Reflection
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April 19, 2023
God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him will not be condemned,
but whoever does not believe has already been condemned,
because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.
And this is the verdict,
that the light came into the world,
but people preferred darkness to light,
because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light
and does not come toward the light,
so that his works might not be exposed.
But whoever lives the truth comes to the light,
so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.
Reflection
Over Lent, Christians are encouraged to increase their prayer life. I decided to commit to pray the rosary with a live rosary group on Instagram called “Many Hail Marys at a Time.”
In today’s gospel, we hear that “people preferred darkness to light.” Reflecting on this darkness, I am reminded of the words in the Hail Holy Queen rosary prayer: “to thee do we cry, to thee do we lift up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.”
Often the circumstances of our lives and the incredible suffering in our world feel like a valley of tears. I do not believe people prefer this darkness, but we can feel so burdened that we become stuck in distress and despair.
But “God so loved the world that he gave us his only-begotten son.” Christ enters our world of human drama, and reminds us that Christ is “the light” which opposes the darkness. Christ understands our pain as he endured the most horrific human tragedy of the crucifixion and conquered this darkness with the light of the empty tomb.
Our invitation as an Easter people is to resist the temptation to remain in worldly darkness and to embrace the light not only for ourselves but also to guide others in finding Christ’s light because as St. Theresa of Avila says, “Christ has no body now but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes with which he looks [with] compassion on this world.”
The Hail Holy Queen prayer continues with, “Turn then, O most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us.” As we take on the task of being Christ’s compassion in our world, how are we light for others? Who needs us to turn our eyes of mercy upon them and be their advocate today?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, we have done many things that we are ashamed of, things that
we would prefer to be kept hidden. Yet we also need to remember that no
sin is greater than your love for us. So please grant us the courage to
stop hiding and come out into the light of your forgiveness and mercy.
Amen.
Saint of the Day
James Duckett is patron saint of booksellers and publishers because he was martyred in 1601 for spreading Catholic books throughout England while the monarchy was suppressing the faith.
He was a devout Protestant apprenticed to a book printer in London, where he found a book about the foundations of the Catholic tradition. The book convinced him to become Catholic and he was thrown into prison, but released when his book printing master paid his bond. When he persisted in his Catholic faith, he kept landing in jail. Finally, his master finally broke ties with him. In one of his stays in prison, he was formally instructed in the Catholic faith by an old priest who was also incarcerated.
When James was released from prison, he married a Catholic widow and they had a son together, who went on to lead an important monastery. As a bookseller, he continued to offer books on the Catholic faith to anyone he could find, and continued to be arrested. In fact, of the 12 years he was married, he spent nine in prison.
Peter Bullocks, a former fellow employee of James’, had landed on death row. Hoping to save his own life, Peter betrayed James by accusing him of publishing a treasonous text. James denied the charge, but acknowledged that he had many other Catholic books. When a jury condemned James to death, he said, “I take it for a great favor from Almighty God that I am placed among the thieves, as he himself, my Lord and master, was.”
James bore no ill-will towards Peter, who was not granted a stay of execution for his betrayal. In fact, the two were to be executed together—they were carried in the same cart to the place of their hanging. James assured Peter of his forgiveness and kissed him as they both stood on the platform awaiting their death.
Blessed James Duckett, you were the convert who was martyred for your faith, and patron saint of publishers—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of Blessed James Duckett is available for use under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International. Last accessed February 21, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
