Daily Gospel Reflection
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July 23, 2026
The disciples approached Jesus and said,
“Why do you speak to the crowd in parables?”
He said to them in reply,
“Because knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven
has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted.
To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich;
from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
This is why I speak to them in parables, because
they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.
Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:
You shall indeed hear but not understand,
you shall indeed look but never see.
Gross is the heart of this people,
they will hardly hear with their ears,
they have closed their eyes,
lest they see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their hearts and be converted
and I heal them.
“But blessed are your eyes, because they see,
and your ears, because they hear.
Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people
longed to see what you see but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner. The full readings of the day from the Lectionary are available here.
Any educator will tell you how important engagement is. Two students can sit through the same lesson—same words, same examples, same activities—yet one leaves transformed and the other leaves unchanged. That difference is often not in what was taught but in whether the student was truly open to receiving it.
I wonder if something similar is happening in today’s gospel.
From an early age, I can remember Jesus’ parables as captivating stories that disrupted my comfort while simultaneously challenging me and revealing how to live as Christ did. I am not sure if I was always ready to hear them, and frankly, I am not sure if I am always ready to hear them now.
This is likely due in part to the deeper truth Jesus reveals when his disciples ask why he speaks in parables: seeing God’s presence requires more than eyes and ears; it requires an open heart. The difference here was not in proximity or exposure to the story. The difference was in disposition and whether people were willing to let the story change them.
I wonder if that challenge is really any different for us today. Are we merely looking but not seeing, hearing but not listening, encountering opportunities but not embracing them? What if the parables did not end with Jesus? What if God continues to place them before us each day, not as stories to read but as opportunities to live? Opportunities to serve, listen, forgive, love, and become Christ’s hands, feet, and eyes in the world.
Years ago, someone shared a perspective on prayer that changed mine. She observed that we rarely just receive what we pray for, but we often receive many opportunities to gain what we pray for. Perhaps those opportunities are today’s parables.
In this gospel, Jesus tells his disciples, “Blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear.” May we pray for those same gifts so that we recognize and respond to the next parable God places before us. More often than not, that opportunity is closer than we think. We just need to be bold enough to let it change us.
Prayer
God our Father, convict and convert our hearts. All is swallowed up in victory, yet still we are hesitant to hear your voice. We listen, but then in a moment forget. We seek to heal ourselves, rather than the healing of Christ your Son, the Anointed One. Open our ears, open our eyes, and open our hearts. Remove from our life all that keeps us from drawing near to you. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Bridget of Sweden, the mother and mystic known as the “patroness of failures,” pray for us!
Bridget of Sweden was a mystic saint whose visions helped guide the Church in the 14th century.
She was born in 1303 to a family that was related to the royal house of Sweden. Her father was a regional governor and a judge, and both of her parents were pious. They would receive the sacraments frequently and go on pilgrimages as far away as the Holy Land.
When Bridget was 10, her mother died. Along with two younger siblings, she was raised by an aunt who was just as faithful as her mother.
While she was still a young girl, Bridget started to receive visions, mostly seeing Jesus on the cross. She asked Jesus who had done this to him, and he replied, “All those who despise my love.” The vision left a deep impression on her and profoundly shaped her spirituality. She continued to receive visions throughout her whole life.
When she was 13, she was married according to the custom of the time, and the couple bore eight children. One daughter was eventually canonized as St. Catherine of Sweden.
She and her husband went on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Her husband became dangerously ill on the journey, but was healed when Bridget received a vision from St. Denis, who told her that she would do great works.
The King of Sweden appointed Bridget as lady-in-waiting to his queen, and from this position, Bridget counseled the king and queen, as well as many priests and theologians.
When her husband became ill again, Bridget took him to a monastery for care. He died and was buried there, and Bridget remained at the monastery in a small room, praying and grieving. She prayed for guidance and received a revelation that she was to establish a new religious order.
She renounced her title as princess and her role at court, and was mocked for this decision. As soon as she had begun organizing the new order of nuns, she received another vision that directed her to go to Rome to encourage the pope to return there from Avignon, France, where the papacy was located due to a conflict with the French crown. She spent the rest of her life as a pilgrim in Rome, writing of her visions and counseling kings and popes (she is sometimes known as Bridget of Rome). Her accounts of the revelations she was given in her visions and prayers were popular through the Middle Ages.
She did not see any of her major works completed—she left Sweden before the abbey she founded was completed, and she did not live to see the pope return to Rome. She is known as the patroness of failures, even though both of these endeavors saw success after her death on this date in 1373 in Rome.
The religious order she founded is still active today, known as the Bridgettines, and she is the patron of Europe and of Sweden. Her relics rest in the reliquary chapel of the Basilica, and she is also depicted in these stained glass windows there.
St. Bridget of Sweden, the mother and mystic known as the “patroness of failures,” pray for us!