Daily Gospel Reflection
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July 5, 2025
The disciples of John approached Jesus and said,
“Why do we and the Pharisees fast much,
but your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn
as long as the bridegroom is with them?
The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast.
No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth,
for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse.
People do not put new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined.
Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”
John’s disciples must have been very confused. Fasting was an important and beneficial part of their faith practice, and here were Jesus’ disciples, not practicing it. It must have seemed to them something like a priest today telling parishioners not to bother with the Eucharist, prayer, or charitable giving.
Fasting is important and beneficial, but it is often associated with feelings of sorrow and mourning. And Jesus, the Son of God, had shown up in person to love and heal and bless the world. The right response was feasting and celebration, not mourning. Jesus knew the time would come for him to die, and no one would need to tell his disciples the right response to that. Don’t we all lose our appetites at least a little bit when tragedy strikes?
What stands out to me here is Jesus’s approval to celebrate, even when tragedy is coming down the road, and to mourn even as resurrection is on its way. It is all too easy to let fear of the future and the sad state of our world steal our moments of joy, or to feel pressure to gloss over our grief and sorrow because of our hope in God.
Jesus’ words encourage us to celebrate with abandon when we sense God at work to heal and to bless, and to mourn freely at all that yet stands in God’s way. Both are right responses in their turn. We have Jesus’s permission to give both joy and sorrow their due in this broken world that is on its way to resurrection life.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, in Christ’s presence is endless joy. He is the bridegroom and the church his bride. Though the risen Christ is with us always, we live in that age before his final manifestation and coming in glory. Give us faith and hope as our hearts yearn with spousal love for the bridegroom, for when he will come in glory and we partake of the heavenly wedding feast. Amen.
Saint of the Day
When she was born and baptized in 1271, Elizabeth of Portugal was named after her great-aunt, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, and she grew up to emulate her aunt in holiness.
As a child, Elizabeth tried to imitate the virtue she saw in other people. She was known for her prayerfulness, obedience, and service to others.
As a young girl, she was married to the king of Portugal. The king did not match her piety with his own lifestyle, but allowed her whatever freedom she wanted to practice her faith. She consistently prayed at several points during her day, and attended Mass every morning. She was modest in the food she ate and the clothes she wore, and dedicated her life to serving God.
She was especially known for her service to the poor. She ordered people in her kingdom to give food and shelter to anyone they found traveling or living on the road. She, herself, would seek out people living in poverty and would help them in whatever way she could. She gave dowries to poor girls and established a hospital and orphanage. She also founded a home where women could escape exploitation and begin a new life.
Her husband was a considerate and generous ruler, but his personal life was a mess—he was selfish and unfaithful, which caused great scandal. Elizabeth devoted her energy to their two children.
Elizabeth was known as the “peacemaker” because at several points in her life, she brought about reconciliation between men who were competing for power, even between her husband and her son when he had grown. She is known to have averted several wars.
When her husband got sick, she cared for him night and day and helped him die a holy death. Then she went on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, and spent the rest of her life living near a convent that she founded. She followed the way of St. Francis and lived with great simplicity.
Elizabeth died while traveling to visit rulers in an effort to urge reconciliation. Her relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
St. Elizabeth of Portugal, you were the quintessential peacemaker who averted wars with your faithfulness—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Elizabeth of Portugal is in the public domain. Last accessed March 19, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
