Daily Gospel Reflection
Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.
January 20, 2019
There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee,
and the mother of Jesus was there.
Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.
When the wine ran short,
the mother of Jesus said to him,
“”They have no wine.””
And Jesus said to her,
“”Woman, how does your concern affect me?
My hour has not yet come.””
His mother said to the servers,
“”Do whatever he tells you.””
Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings,
each holding twenty to thirty gallons.
Jesus told them,
“”Fill the jars with water.””
So they filled them to the brim.
Then he told them,
“”Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.””
So they took it.
And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine,
without knowing where it came from
— although the servers who had drawn the water knew —,
the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him,
“”Everyone serves good wine first,
and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one;
but you have kept the good wine until now.””
Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee
and so revealed his glory,
and his disciples began to believe in him.
Reflection
Today’s reflection honors Blessed Basil Moreau, whose feast we celebrate today.
The Founder of Holy Cross, Basil Moreau emphasized teaching that builds bridges, not walls. “How we educate the mind will change with the times. How we educate the heart is, and will remain, timeless,” he famously wrote.
As a priest, after some years in Chile, I realized I had arrived intellectually well-prepared but
with a weak heart. I was unaware of how my heart needed to be formed into the heart of Christ.
When I experienced the compassion of Jesus in his “turning water into wine at the wedding”—in his providing for my needs in a strange county—I began to have my heart educated. I began to experience the dependency of the poor. I felt the need for a real change of heart on my part—a sort of transplant.
This experience of conversion, of the education of my heart, led me later to express in a homily:
“The cry of the poor, especially that of the many disenfranchised of our current world, leads us to the specific quality of proclaiming the Gospel that we are called to today.”
Listening to the cry of the poor, as Jesus did, educates our hearts to be as generous as the God who turns water into the abundance of wine.
Prayer
Almighty God, may we, like the servers in Cana, have the trust to follow the words of the Blessed Mother: “Do whatever he tells you.” When things do not go as planned or when we are disappointed and frustrated by the world around us, you are still capable of showing us your love. May we always turn to you in prayer, trusting in your providence and love, even in our moments of doubt and discouragement. Grant this, through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Blessed Basil Moreau founded the Congregation of Holy Cross—the order of priests and brothers that founded the University of Notre Dame.
Basil Anthony Marie Moreau was born near Le Mans, France, in 1799, and would be forever affected by the spiritual upheaval caused by the French Revolution. Church property was seized, priests were executed and arrested, and religious communities were expelled from France. Basil Moreau's hope was to fill this vast spiritual and educational gap.
In 1821, Moreau was ordained a priest for the diocese, later becoming a seminary professor teaching philosophy and theology, while enthusiastically continuing his pastoral duties.
By 1835, Moreau had organized a group of young and energetic “auxiliary priests” whose mission was to travel the diocese, assisting in educational and spiritual growth programs at parishes. That same year, the bishop asked him to oversee the Brothers of St. Joseph, a community of educators. Two years later Fr. Moreau merged the priests and brothers into one association, which took its name from the small French town outside of Le Mans where it was based, Sainte-Croix. The new order's name became Congregatio a Sancta Cruce (hence the initials that follow the name of every Holy Cross religious—C.S.C.), which literally means "Congregation of Holy Cross."
The cross soon became an integral part of this community’s spirituality. The motto of the congregation is Ave Crux, Spes Unica, which means "Hail the Cross, Our Only Hope"—calling on the community to "learn how even the Cross can be borne as a gift."
Blessed Moreau’s vision was to give this association “one heart, one soul” by modeling it after the Holy Family and bringing into it a group of sisters who would also be involved in education and evangelization.
Reflecting his congregation’s zeal to make God known, loved and served, Moreau started sending members to other countries, including Algeria, Canada, Bangladesh, and the United States. He sent seven young men—six brothers and Father Edward Sorin—to the United States, where, in 1842, they founded the University of Notre Dame.
Moreau later resigned as Superior General mid crises and controversies and disagreements with Fr. Sorin. Moreau lived his last days estranged from his community, and Fr. Sorin was the second man elected to succeed Moreau as superior general. Moreau died in Le Mans on January 20, 1873.
On September 15, 2007, Fr. Moreau was beatified in Le Mans, France, the city where he lived and died, the home of the Congregation’s Mother Church and the sacred place where he is buried.
Blessed Basil Moreau, founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross who sought to make God known, loved, and served—pray for us!