Daily Gospel Reflection
Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.
April 22, 2026
Jesus said to the crowds,
“I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me will never hunger,
and whoever believes in me will never thirst.
But I told you that although you have seen me,
you do not believe.
Everything that the Father gives me will come to me,
and I will not reject anyone who comes to me,
because I came down from heaven not to do my own will
but the will of the one who sent me.
And this is the will of the one who sent me,
that I should not lose anything of what he gave me,
but that I should raise it on the last day.
For this is the will of my Father,
that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him
may have eternal life,
and I shall raise him on the last day.”
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 line of our reading today immediately had me singing the Catholic classic, “I Am the Bread of Life,” composed by Sister Suzanne Toolan, RSM. How many times have I sung this hymn? At my First Holy Communion and the First Holy Communions of my children. In the chapel of Lyons Hall with my friends, at my wedding, in my classroom with my students, and at almost every funeral Mass, including my mother’s.
This song is known around the world and woven into the fabric of our lives because the words that form the basis of our faith come directly from the teaching of Jesus. “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.”
We believe. His rising is our rising. There is nothing more powerful than Christ’s resurrection. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Not even death. We are forgiven. We are healed. We are given new hope and new life. We do not reach our full potential until we are raised on the last day. That is the gift of faith, and it is meant to be shared.
St. Pope John Paul II said, “We are an Easter People, and Alleluia is our song.” This joy is an exclamation of praise for a faith that transforms. Surround yourself with people who share their faith. My mom and dad have always been those people in my life. Living their faith, they instilled in me the love of God, the willingness to serve others, and the joy that comes from the belief we will have eternal life with Christ.
Will you go out into the world and share your faith and the joy of Easter with someone today?
Prayer
Dear Lord, how blessed are we to know that with you we have life eternal. There is no end with you. Even when we are faced with seemingly dark days, there is no need for panic or despair for nothing that happens today, or any day, can overcome us. Even death itself is not an end, for with you there is always a new beginning, a new life. We are comforted by your promise. Blessed are you, our God, Amen.
Saint of the Day
Blessed Maria Gabriella Sagheddu was a Sardinian woman who became a Trappist sister and whose life ended in an unusual kind of martyrdom.
Maria Sagheddu was born in 1914 to a poor Italian shepherding family on the island of Sardinia. She was the fifth of eight children. Her father died when she was only five years old. Her mother and older siblings raised the strong-willed Sagheddu family. Maria was a stubborn child, and she was prone to disobedience and to criticize whatever displeased her. But Maria was bright and quick-witted. She excelled at school and loved to learn. Her love of learning led her, when she was in her late teen years, to become a catechism teacher for the local schoolchildren.
Their local pastor helped Maria fulfill her dream to enter religious life. Her family had mixed reactions to Maria's choice, but eventually, shortly after her twenty-first birthday, Maria entered the Trappist convent in Grottaferrata near Rome. She took the name Maria Gabriella.
In the early twentieth century, the cause of Christian Unity was sweeping Europe. In an increasingly divided world, wracked by wars and violence, Western Christians began to realize that their deep divisions, fomented by the many turns of history since the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century, were a scandal to the rest of the world. Christ prayed on the night of his death that all his followers might be one (John 17:21), in imitation of his unity with the Father.
Sister Maria Gabriella entered a convent that had caught this fervor for Christian Unity. The Octave of Christian Unity was first proposed in 1908 for a week in January. It was further developed and renamed the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in 1935. A French priest, Abbé Paul Couturier, was widely influential in promoting this week of prayer, and he was a great apostle for ecumenism. Sr. Maria Gabriella was inspired by his witness.
During the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in 1938, Sister Maria Gabriella asked permission from her superior to offer up her life as a sacrifice for Christian Unity. Mother Superior agreed and, soon afterward, Maria Gabriella fell ill and was diagnosed with tuberculosis. She suffered for eighteen months before she died in the evening between April 22 and April 23, 1939.
Maria Gabriella was recognized by John Paul II in his encyclical on Christian Unity, Ut Unum Sint ("That they may be one") as a model of concern for Christian unity. Christian unity is not a cause for "special times" John Paul II writes, rather it is a cause for "everyone, always, and everywhere."
Blessed Maria Gabriella Sagheddu, Trappist sister and martyr for Christian Unity—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of Blessed Maria Gabriella Sagheddu is in the public domain. Last accessed February 21, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
