Daily Gospel Reflection
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January 22, 2024
The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said of Jesus,
“He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and
“By the prince of demons he drives out demons.”
Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables,
“How can Satan drive out Satan?
If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
And if a house is divided against itself,
that house will not be able to stand.
And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided,
he cannot stand;
that is the end of him.
But no one can enter a strong man’s house to plunder his property
unless he first ties up the strong man.
Then he can plunder his house.
Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies
that people utter will be forgiven them.
But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
will never have forgiveness,
but is guilty of an everlasting sin.”
For they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
I will never forget the first time I visited the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. I gazed up at the beautiful image of the Blessed Mother preserved miraculously on the tilma of St. Juan Diego for almost 500 years.
One of the most striking things about Our Lady of Guadalupe is the black ribbon tied around Mary’s womb to symbolize her pregnancy. Carrying Jesus within her womb, Our Lady appeared bearing the message of conversion for the Aztec people and implored an end to their practice of human sacrifice.
In today’s gospel, Jesus teaches us that there is no sin that will not be forgiven except the ultimate sin of rejecting his mercy. As we pray today for the legal protection of the unborn, we entrust our country to Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, who carries all mothers, children, and families who have suffered from the evil of abortion.
Mary shows us that her Son—Jesus—has the power to heal our nation from the darkness brought about by abortion. Just as Our Blessed Mother helped bring an end to the practice of human sacrifice in Mexico all those centuries ago, so too may she be a vessel of hope, healing, and mercy in the present fight to end our version of human sacrifice.
We thank Our Lady—who watches over each mother, father, and unborn child with the tenderness that only a mother knows—and ask for her intercession in our fight to promote life and the dignity of each person from conception until natural death.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, Son of God, Son of Mary, you came that we may have life, and have it more abundantly. You are the Word through whom we were made. Teach us to live the Gospel of Life. Soften our hearts so that we may be compassionate toward the most vulnerable. Embolden us to be voices for the voiceless. Help us always to remember that what we do for the least ones, we do for you—never to forget the incomparable value of every human person. In your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.
Saint of the Day

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has designated today as a National Day of Prayer for the Protection of the Unborn.
People of all faiths—including Notre Dame faculty, staff, students, and alumni—customarily gather in Washington, D.C. to participate in the March for Life on this day. Thousands will gather to witness to what it means to walk with a woman who is pregnant and vulnerable.
Several saints are patrons for the Right to Life movement. St. Maximilian Kolbe is one of them—he was a Polish Franciscan priest who was imprisoned in 1941 and sent to a concentration camp for speaking out against the Nazis. When a fellow prisoner—a husband and father—was selected for execution in the camp, Maximilian stepped forward to take his place. With nine other prisoners, he was locked in a starvation chamber and eventually executed.
Our Lady of Guadalupe is another patron of the Right to Life movement. In 1531, she appeared to Juan Diego, an indigenous Indian living near what is now Mexico City. She appeared to him as an indigenous woman herself and spoke to him in his native language. She left him a miraculous sign—her image imprinted on his cloak. In the image, she appears with a black band around her waist—a custom symbolizing her pregnancy.
Patron saints of the Right to Life movement, pray for us that we might build a culture of life!