Daily Gospel Reflection
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August 25, 2024
Many of Jesus’ disciples who were listening said,
“This saying is hard; who can accept it?”
Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this,
he said to them, “Does this shock you?
What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending
to where he was before?
It is the spirit that gives life,
while the flesh is of no avail.
The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.
But there are some of you who do not believe.”
Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe
and the one who would betray him.
And he said,
“For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me
unless it is granted him by my Father.”
As a result of this,
many of his disciples returned to their former way of life
and no longer accompanied him.
Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.
We have come to believe
and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”
At the center of every human being is a desire that can be fulfilled only by Christ. The church has understood that this desire is central to what it means to be human from the beginning. You can see it in the writings of St. Augustine in the 4th century, Blaise Pascal in the 17th, and Pope St John Paul II in the 20th—among many others.
In today’s gospel we see two very different responses by Jesus’ followers to what they all apparently understood to be a hard teaching. Some thought it was too hard and left. Those who stayed did so, not because they found the teaching easier, but because they had come to the realization that nothing else could satisfy their heart’s fundamental desire—as St. Peter’s response so clearly attests. They knew there was nowhere else to go.
Did those who stayed somehow desire Christ more? No, that desire is always present in every human heart. Rather, the difference was one of understanding. Those who stayed better understood the correspondence between Christ and their most central hunger.
We can intentionally cultivate that understanding and hunger in our own lives— through prayer, liturgy, sacraments, reflection, and ascetic practices. We have to. As humans, we cannot help that our hearts will always look for something outside of ourselves to provide ultimate meaning, and that thing—money, material possessions, tik-tok fame, political power, whatever small worldly success—guides and ultimately controls how we live.
By engaging in practices that cultivate a deeper spiritual understanding that Christ is the only answer to the most central hunger of our hearts, we can both change the orientation of our everyday lives and also ensure that, when faced with hard situations or hard teachings, we might echo St. Peter’s response—where else can we go?
Prayer
Ancient and Holy One, you never fail to teach us through the mystery of your grace acting in our midst. You beckon all who hear your voice to go out into all the world and proclaim the good news in everything we say and do. Give your people strength and perseverance through communion with our source of life, Christ your Son. May his eternal life dwell within us and bring us at last into your peaceful presence. We ask this in your holy name. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Stories about the holiness and justice of St. Louis IX, the famed good king of France, have become legendary. Because the priests and brothers who founded Notre Dame were from a French religious community, the Congregation of Holy Cross, he is abundantly depicted in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on campus.
Louis was born in 1214, and his mother took great care to raise him in the faith and instill virtue. “I love you, my dear son, as much as a mother can love her child,” she would say to him, “but I would rather see you dead at my feet than that you should commit a mortal sin.”
When Louis was 12 years old, his father died, which left Louis in line to become king. As he was a minor, his mother acted as his regent, assisting him with decisions until he grew older. Still, Louis displayed remarkable maturity—he was merciful to rebels and did not seek revenge; he loved the Church and sought the conversation of priests and religious (including St. Thomas Aquinas); he diligently sought the truth in any case he was asked to judge, even when bishops were involved; and he banished from court any immoral activities. “I was a good 22 years in the holy king’s company,” wrote his biographer, “and never once did I hear him swear, either by God or his Mother or the saints.”
Louis married when he was 19—he and Margaret had a happy marriage and produced 11 children. Their offspring produced the line of kings and queens who ruled France for 500 years, until the Revolution.
When Louis turned 21, he assumed control of the government for himself, and continued to shape France into a faithful nation. He founded a number of monasteries and churches, the most prominent of which was Sainte Chapelle, famous for its stained glass windows and built to hold Jesus’ crown of thorns. (The relic was given to him as a gift for his support of Christians in the Holy Land, and he tore down his own chapel to make room for a church to venerate it. He is shown in this stained glass window bringing the crown of thorns to France--he is carrying it in a bare-footed procession.)
He forbade moneylending, and legislated that anyone caught lying be branded (and did not shy from using the law to punish a prominent citizen of Paris). He kept his word scrupulously, and many foreign kings and nobility asked for his help in judging matters because they trusted his integrity.
He had a passion for justice, transforming the king’s court into an efficient and organized court for justice. He was careful to protect subordinates from their feudal lords—for example, when a count hanged three children for hunting in his woods, Louis had him arrested and tried. The count demanded a trial by his peers, but Louis insisted he be subject to ordinary judges, who condemned him to death. Louis prevented his execution, but fined him so excessively that the count lost most of his land; the money was put towards charitable works.
Louis is remembered for his personal holiness as well as for his faithful leadership. Among the institutions he created to assist the poor, he founded a hospital for the blind in Paris. Every day, he invited 13 homeless people to eat with him personally; this was in addition to the large number fed daily by the palace. In Lent and Advent, he invited anyone who was hungry to dine with him, and often served them himself. He also kept a list of people in special need, whom he looked after and supported.
When Muslim forces conquered the Holy Land, Louis promised to return it to Christianity and led two crusades to win it back—both failed. In the first crusade, which lasted for six years, he was taken prisoner for a time before returning to France upon his mother’s death. He remembered the distress of the Christians there, though, and wore a cross on his clothes to signify his intent to return. In 1270, he set out again to the Holy Land, but soon after landing there, he fell sick with typhus and died.
Relics of St. Louis IX rest in the Basilica, and he is shown there in these stained glass windows. The window that shows him processing with the crown of thorns stands in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica, which also holds parts of Jesus’ crown of thorns.
St. Louis, the good king of France, you led your people with faithfulness and justice--pray for us!