Daily Gospel Reflection
Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.
August 12, 2025
The disciples approached Jesus and said,
“Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?”
He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said,
“Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,
you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.
Whoever becomes humble like this child
is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.
And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.
“See that you do not despise one of these little ones,
for I say to you that their angels in heaven
always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.
What is your opinion?
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills
and go in search of the stray?
And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it
than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.
In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father
that one of these little ones be lost.”
Why do the disciples ask Jesus, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” When we look at ourselves before God, none of us is great, or if we are, we merely reflect God’s own greatness. Each and every person is created in God’s image and likeness, and this wonderful truth means that something great can be found in every person.
So what is it in human nature that feels compelled to compare and contrast, to create rankings, to think in terms of degrees of difference? What is it inside of us that craves to be considered greater than or better than others? These desires characterize how we think and view the world, yet the Lord says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways.” (Is 55:8)
By his response, Jesus suggests that the disciples have asked a “dumb question.” In our conversation with God in prayer, we may very well be asking a lot of dumb questions without knowing it; after all, we are children before God.
We can take a giant leap forward in our life of faith when we leave that comparative mindset behind and learn to focus all our energy and attention on the one thing necessary. Easier said than done, of course. As St. Josemaria Escriva put it, “Pride dies 24 hours after its owner.”
Through saints who led simple lives—Our Lady herself, St. Joseph, St. Monica, St. Andre Bessette, and others—the church reminds us that holiness is not measured by human accolades. Rather, God “looks upon the lowliness of his handmaid.” (Lk 1:48)
May our greatest aspiration be, always and forever, to be saints—not necessarily in the eyes of men, but in the eyes of God, which is all that matters.
Prayer
Loving God—the shepherd who seeks us always. In your kingdom, where the last are first and the first are last, may humility flow like a river to remove the pride that keeps us from being your children. May we trust in you alone. Grant this in the name of Christ our Lord and Brother. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Jane Frances de Chantal was faithful to every role she played in life: wife, mother, citizen, and religious sister.
She was born in 1572 in France; her father was the president of the parliament of Burgundy. At her Confirmation, Jane took the name Frances, and she married an officer in the French military when she was 20. He had a large estate that had fallen into disrepair since his mother died; Jane immediately established regular order among the staff.
The couple had seven children, three of whom died soon after birth. After eight years of marriage, her husband was shot in the thigh during a hunting accident. He survived for nine days, enduring painful surgeries from an incompetent doctor. When he died, Jane was left a widow at the age of 28.
Jane was devastated and fell into depression for months until she was persuaded to carry on for the good of her children. She prayed that God would show her a holy guide who could help her discover what she was to do with the rest of her life. During one period of prayer, she had a vision of a man whom she did not know. Later, when she witnessed St. Francis de Sales preaching in her town, she recognized him as the man from her vision.
St. Francis would visit her father’s home frequently, and over the course of sharing meals with him and her family, Jane came to trust his wisdom. She turned to him for direction, and he encouraged her to attend to her responsibilities—to pursue holiness in her role as mother and a woman in the world.
She kept a strict schedule, dedicating much time to prayer and the care and education of her children, and she also visited sick people who lived in her neighborhood, sometimes staying up the whole night to sit with them as they lay dying.
When her children were teenagers, St. Francis encouraged Jane to establish a new religious community of sisters and helped her open a convent for the Sisters of the Visitation of Mary in 1610. St. Francis envisioned the order to be active in the world, serving others, and to be a place for women to go if they had not been accepted by other orders.
Humility was declared as a founding value for the new community, and won over people who doubted the new order or opposed its growth. Convents sprang up throughout France, 65 in all, and when she opened a convent in Paris, Jane came to know another great holy man, St. Vincent de Paul. (St. Jane is pictured with St. Vincent in this stained glass window from the chapel in Geddes Hall.) St. Vincent said that Jane was one of the holiest people he had ever met.
Jane experienced much grief and loss in her life. Nearly all of her children died before she did, and she grieved the death of her great friend and mentor, St. Francis de Sales. She was confronted with temptation and periods of dryness in prayer, and met many obstacles in her work. Through it all, she remained humble and faithful. “Destroy, cut, burn whatever opposes your holy will,” she prayed.
She died at the age of 69 and was buried next to St. Francis de Sales in the original convent they established. Her relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica, and she is pictured there in stained glass windows; one window shows her distributing bread to the poor.
St. Jane Frances de Chantal, you sought God even through depression and were led to serve others—pray for us!
