Daily Gospel Reflection
Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.
July 24, 2024
On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea.
Such large crowds gathered around him
that he got into a boat and sat down,
and the whole crowd stood along the shore.
And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying:
“A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path,
and birds came and ate it up.
Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil.
It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep,
and when the sun rose it was scorched,
and it withered for lack of roots.
Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.
But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit,
a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
My niece Emily DeArdo died at age 41 on New Year’s Eve 2023—a day she had long contemplated and prepared for.
“I’ve never doubted my faith,” Emily wrote. “But did I have courage? Did I trust Jesus? … That’s the slow-growing bloom of faith. Faith is the seed. But courage and trust? That’s the result of a lot of dark nights and lots of tears.”
Jesus asks us to have that bloom of faith in today’s gospel reading, and it was the essence of Emily. Diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at age 11 and given a projected life expectancy of 30 years, Emily could have had her faith snatched away by the birds of bitterness before it took root. Or, having survived this devastating diagnosis, Emily’s faith could have been scorched or choked by the medical trials she endured over the years—the near-fatal bout of tuberculosis, the double lung transplant, and the loss of her hearing.
But Emily proved to be rich soil that produced a fruitful, faithful life. She lived exuberantly, with courage and trust in God. She competed on “Jeopardy!” as the show’s first cochlear implant recipient, blazing a path for others to follow. She wrote the book Living Memento Mori: My Journey Through the Stations of the Cross, published by Ave Maria Press in 2019, explaining how her faith guided her through many challenges and offering inspiration to readers struggling with their own crosses.
“We wait for the second coming of Christ—we wait for our own resurrection,” Emily wrote. “And as we do this, we show the world that even when God appears silent, we will still love him. We will still follow him. We will still be faithful as we wait.”
Whoever has ears ought to hear.
Prayer
Lord God, we give thanks to all who planted and toiled in the fields to produce the food that will nourish us this day. Help us similarly to plant and sow seeds of compassion, love, and forgiveness to all whom we encounter this day. Be with us Lord as we sow these seeds of Your goodness, for you are our One God, forever and ever. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Despite the fantastic stories surrounding St. Christina and her martyrdom, there is evidence that a Christian witness named Christina, a young girl, died a martyr and was honored for her faith.
Legend describes her as a young girl of a wealthy Roman family living in Bolsena, Italy. She had great beauty and many suitors came calling for her hand in marriage, but her father intended for her to become a pagan priestess. He set up a special room for her that was decorated with gold and silver images of pagan gods and instructed her to offer prayer and incense to them.
When she was visited by an angel, she became Christian. She went through the family’s house breaking up the golden and silver images of pagan gods and selling the pieces to help the poor. Her father became enraged, and threw her into a nearby lake with a stone tied around her neck. She somehow survived the incident, and was brought before authorities, who ordered her killed with arrows. Other torments were assigned to her, including bites from poisonous snakes and burning in a furnace.
While we do not know that any of this story is true, there is evidence that a maiden named Christina was martyred in Bolsena, Italy, and was venerated by Christians there as early as the fourth century. Modern excavations there have uncovered a shrine that includes a small church, catacombs, and a tomb with a name like Christina on it.
The relics of St. Christina rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
St. Christina, you stood for your faith in the face of death and inspired other Christians, pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Christina is in the public domain. Last accessed March 19, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
_-_Martyrdom_of_St_Christina_by_Sante_Peranda.jpg){kind=link}