Daily Gospel Reflection
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January 20, 2025
The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast. People came to Jesus and objected,
“Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus answered them,
“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?
As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.
But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.
No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak.
If he does, its fullness pulls away,
the new from the old, and the tear gets worse.
Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins,
and both the wine and the skins are ruined.
Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”
A farm boy in a peasant family from a very small village who, by God’s grace and personal determination, would grow to have a very large vision, Basil Moreau was keenly aware of the reality shaping 19th-century French society. He lived in a social context covered by clouds of discouragement for the future and despair that anything would change. And yet, Moreau saw light piercing through those clouds. Change was possible, hope could be tapped, the clouds could be dispersed. It would require quality education, effective parish ministry, dynamic preaching, selfless service, all driven by the solid conviction that better times were possible.
Father Moreau with the family of Holy Cross and its colleagues worked to accomplish all that and remained convinced that better times could come—in France and far beyond.
What do we see as we look at our world today? What clouds darken our expectations for the future and diminish our conviction that there can be better times? We can choose to do nothing and so remain locked in the small village of our discouragement. Or we can approach our times with the large vision of hope. We can dare to be courageous in discerning what we believe needs to be done and audacious in deciding how to do it. We can make a difference.
We share in the challenging legacy that Basil Moreau passed on to those who live his vision. It is for us to look for light through the clouds, to bring hope, to prepare the world for better times. What will we do in responding to all that we see around us? The choice is ours—the village or
the vision.
Editor’s Note: January is Holy Cross Heritage Month, celebrating the nearly 200-year-old mission of the Congregation of Holy Cross in making God known, loved, and served. This January, we invite you to celebrate in a special way with us, the beautiful work that God has begun at holycrossmonth.org
Prayer
Good and gracious God, in your Divine Providence, you chose Blessed Basil Moreau to help make you known, loved, and served throughout the world. Supported by his prayers and example, we ask that you make our faith ever stronger so we, too, may transcend our weaknesses and limitations to do great things in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ. 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!