Daily Gospel Reflection
Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.
July 27, 2023
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.”
My former classmates know me as someone who asks questions and relentlessly pursues answers. If I don’t understand a concept, I have no shame in asking clarifying questions until I reach a satisfactory explanation. My relationship with Jesus is no different. “Lord, why this cross? Lord, where are you in this period of desolation? Lord, what are you trying to get me to understand?”
Perhaps this is why I have always respected and related to the disciples when they asked Jesus bluntly, “Why do you speak to the crowd in parables?” In the verses preceding this gospel, Jesus tells the Parable of the Sower to a large crowd. He even emphasizes the importance of the lesson, calling them twice to “Listen.” Clearly, not many, if any, understood what Jesus had tried to illustrate to them.
Good thing the brave disciples were there to ask for clarification! In the verses immediately following the conclusion of this passage, Jesus explains quite clearly what he meant by the Parable of the Sower.
How beautiful! When Christ gives us insight, he desires that we fully understand what he is trying to tell us. The only time we will ever “hear but not understand” is if we fail to ask the question (or questions) necessary.
So today, I pray that we courageously ask Jesus the questions we desire answered so that we might hear with our ears, understand in our hearts, and be converted, allowing him to heal us. Amen.
Prayer
Almighty God, every day you reveal to us your presence and the depth of your love for us. Open our hearts to receive your mercy, our minds to understand your wisdom. Make us worthy vessels of your grace. Help us bring your love to a broken world. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Sts. Aurelius and Natalia, a Christian married couple in Islamic-controlled Spain, were martyred when they decided to refrain from hiding their faith any longer.
Aurelius was the son of a Spanish woman who had married a Muslim; they were a family of distinction in Cordoba. Both of his parents died when he was a boy, and Aurelius was left in the care of an aunt, who raised him as a Christian.
As he grew and matured, he was Christian in secret and Muslim to all appearances. He married a woman who was also from a half-Muslim family, and after their wedding, she converted to Christianity, taking the name Natalia at her baptism.
One day, Aurelius saw a man from Cordoba beaten and humiliated for standing up for his Christian faith; he was led through the city on a donkey to be gawked at. The sight moved Aurelius, and he was ashamed that he had protected his safety instead of publicly proclaiming his faith.
By this time, Aurelius and Natalia had two young children, and they worried that if they were public with their faith, that they would be martyred and would leave their children destitute. They consulted a holy man in the Christian community, St. Eulogius, who advised them to make arrangements for their children to be cared for and raised as Christians if anything happened to them.
Aurelius and Natalia’s discernment inspired a relative to return to the faith. Felix was Aurelius’ cousin and was raised a Christian, but had turned away to practice Islam. Felix’s wife, Liliosa, remained faithful, and when he returned to the faith, they joined Aurelius and Natalia in reaching out to support imprisoned Christians. They even came to know that man whom Aurelius had seen paraded through the streets.
Aurelius welcomed to his home a traveling monk, George, who came from a monastery in Jerusalem and was traveling to beg for alms to support his community. The two became close friends.
Natalia and Liliosa decided to openly visit the Christian churches in Cordoba with their faces open and unveiled. They were spotted and watched. When the two couples were gathered at Aurelius’ house to celebrate the Mass, they were all arrested, along with the visiting monk, George.
They were all charged with turning away from Islam and condemned to death. As a foreigner, George was given leniency and permitted to leave, but he chose to stay with the faithful couples and to be martyred with them.
Relics of St. Aurelius rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
Sts. Aurelius and Natalia, the Christians who inspired their relatives to boldly proclaim the faith in the face of martyrdom, pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Natalia is used with permission from Catholic Online. Last accessed March 20, 2025.