Daily Gospel Reflection
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July 6, 2025
At that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others
whom he sent ahead of him in pairs
to every town and place he intended to visit.
He said to them,
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.
Go on your way;
behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.
Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals;
and greet no one along the way.
Into whatever house you enter, first say,
‘Peace to this household.’
If a peaceful person lives there,
your peace will rest on him;
but if not, it will return to you.
Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you,
for the laborer deserves his payment.
Do not move about from one house to another.
Whatever town you enter and they welcome you,
eat what is set before you,
cure the sick in it and say to them,
‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you.'”
For Lent, I gave up social media because I found myself strongly addicted to it. The result? I found myself more present and interested in my real-life relationships. I stopped caring as much about doing things for the sake of appearance and prioritized doing things that brought me spiritual fulfillment; a fulfilling feeling I couldn’t find anywhere else.
The seventy-two that Jesus sent out in this gospel were told, “Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way.” To those of us today, this mission sounds incredibly daunting, given our increased reliance on technology as a means of connection. However, the seventy-two likely felt more empowered to use their faith and relationships with one another to live the mission given to them by Jesus.
This past Lent, the burden of removing social media from my life turned into a feeling of empowerment. As we seek to deepen our relationship with God this summer, let us choose to feel empowered by prioritizing only the things we genuinely need for fulfillment. We might find difficulty in this discernment, but consider taking a fast from things in our lives that keep us busy or distracted, but are not essential to our vocation. How does this give us clarity of purpose and eyes to see where God is calling us?
Let us take this gospel as a lesson that we do not need the things of this Earth to find purpose in our lives or to share the love of God; we can instead turn to those directly around us to discover Jesus more fully.
Prayer
Dear Lord, we have so many responsibilities and commitments to honor today. Through all of this, we ask that your Spirit remind us again and again about what really matters. Let your peace be ours. Let your joy fill us. Help us to be attentive to the concerns and the celebrations of others. Fill us with gratitude and with the grace to live in the moment. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Maria Goretti captured the imaginations of people when she died defending herself from sexual assault. Her influence from heaven worked miracles, even converting her attacker.
She was born in 1890 in a small village in Italy. Her father was a farm laborer, and the family moved to a number of different places to follow work. When he died, Maria’s mother did what she could to take on his workload, but struggled. Every penny, every scrap of food had to be carefully conserved.
When she was 12, Maria was approached in her cottage by a 19-year-old young man who lived nearby named Alexander. When she refused his advances, he pulled her into a bedroom and shut the door. She condemned his actions as sinful, then Alexander began to strangle her. She continued to struggle against him, and he stabbed her 14 times before running away.
She was taken to the hospital, and it was immediately apparent that she would not survive. Her mother waited at her bedside with other family friends as Maria suffered. She forgave Alexander and asked God’s forgiveness for him before dying the next day.
Alexander was sentenced to 30 years in prison under hard labor. For many years, he grew only more bitter and cruel. One night, he had a vision in which he saw Maria gathering white lilies in a garden. She approached him and offered the flowers to him. When he accepted them, each one turned into a white flame.
Alexander sensed her forgiveness, which changed him. He finished his sentence with hope and optimism and was released three years early. The first thing he did when he was freed was to visit Maria’s mother and beg her forgiveness.
Maria’s story was told throughout the world, and people all over began to pray for her and to ask for her intercession. Miracles were attributed to her help, and her cause for canonization was introduced. Alexander testified with his story as part of her cause.
Her mother, 82, was present at her beatification, along with three of her siblings. The pope named Maria a modern-day St. Agnes. She was canonized in 1950 in front of the largest crowd ever gathered to witness a canonization.
St. Maria Goretti is considered a martyr because she died in defense of Christian virtue, and she is the patron saint of victims of sexual assault. Her relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica, and her story and image are used by high school students who come to campus for a summer conference with the Notre Dame Vision program.
St. Maria Goretti, patron saint of victims of sexual assault—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Maria Goretti is an illustration by Julie Lonneman, who holds exclusive rights to the further distribution and publication of her art. Used with permission.