Daily Gospel Reflection
Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.
April 30, 2019
Jesus said to Nicodemus:
“‘You must be born from above.’
The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes,
but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes;
so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Nicodemus answered and said to him,
‘How can this happen?”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this?
Amen, amen, I say to you,
we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen,
but you people do not accept our testimony.
If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe,
how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?
No one has gone up to heaven
except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.
And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
In today’s Gospel, Nicodemus experiences what every college student dreads: he asks a question, and is absolutely eviscerated for it. He asks Jesus a question, hoping to learn more about something he is unable to understand, and in return receives a rebuke.
Or rather, this is how one might understand this passage at face value. A closer look reveals that Nicodemus is not the foolish student being torn apart in front of his peers, but rather the earnest pupil eager to learn. Recognizing Jesus has come from God, Nicodemus visits Jesus in the dead of night to engage in this conversation. Nicodemus approaches Jesus with the desire to pursue a truth which he is humble enough to admit he does not understand. Although Jesus does rebuke Nicodemus for his lack of understanding, he rewards his question with the beautiful truth of Christianity: that Christ will be lifted up so that all who believe in him may receive eternal life.
For those of us who too often find ourselves timid students, Nicodemus’ humility stands out as a bold model. Rather than keeping quiet for fear of being thought a fool or rebuked, Nicodemus pursues the truth he recognizes in Jesus. Let us all strive to follow in Nicodemus’ footsteps, humbly seeking the truth so as to one day receive eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord once lifted up on the cross.
Prayer
Lord, your Son, Jesus, mounted the wood of the cross to bring spiritual healing and new life to those suffering from sin and death. Help us, Jesus, to always be mindful of those who suffer physically and spiritually. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Marie of the Incarnation is the founder of the Ursuline Sisters in Canada, and is a powerful example of trust in God.
Marie was born in 1599 to a wealthy merchant family in France. She wanted to enter the religious life from a young age, but her family arranged a marriage for her with a wealthy silk merchant, Claude Martin. They had a son together, and Marie said they had a happy marriage, while it lasted. Claude died just a few months after their son was born, leaving Marie already a widow at nineteen.
Marie decided to pursue religious life now that she had the freedom of a widow. She took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience and began to live as a sister. In 1627. Marie read St. Teresa of Avila's autobiography and was profoundly inspired by the great Spanish mystic. Marie longed to travel to the New World and spread the Christian faith there.
In 1631, Marie entered the Ursuline convent in Tours, leaving her young son in the care of family friends. The accounts of her young son crying outside the gates of the convent and attempting to storm the gates with a small band of school fellows are heart-wrenching. Marie and her son endured great sorrow at their separation, but they continued to correspond, even when Marie's son became a Benedictine monk.
In 1633, Marie had a vision of a band of sisters and herself walking through a distant landscape with the Virgin Mary, and she interpreted this as a sign that she should travel to New France as a missionary. Marie began a correspondence with Jesuit priests in Quebec. They wanted female religious to minister to the native women in Quebec.
Marie's family and religious community objected to her going, but Marie persisted. She found another young noblewoman with a missionary spirit, Madeleine de la Peltrie, and together, they worked tirelessly toward their goal, Madeleine even entered into a legal marriage with a wealthy nobleman to fund the venture. In 1639, Marie and Madeleine set sail for Quebec, accompanied by five other women and two Jesuit priests.
Marie founded the first Ursuline Monastery in Quebec, now a National Historic Site of Canada, in 1642. Marie spent the remainder of her life working to educate all the women—French and native Canadian—in Quebec. Marie was a prolific writer, penning over 20,000 letters in her lifetime. She wrote powerfully on trust in God's providence, which had worked such powerful good in her own life:
"If we could, with a single interior glance, see all the goodness and mercy that exists in God's designs for each one of us, even in what we call disgraces, pains, and afflictions, our happiness would consist in throwing ourselves into the arms of the Divine Will."
Marie died on April 30, 1672 and was canonized by Pope Francis on April 2, 2014. A statue of Marie stands in front of Quebec parliament.
St. Marie of the Incarnation, bold missionary who trusted deeply in God's plan—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Marie of the Incarnation is in the public domain. Last accessed February 13, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
