Daily Gospel Reflection
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June 16, 2019
Jesus said to his disciples:
“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.
But when he comes, the Spirit of truth,
he will guide you to all truth.
He will not speak on his own,
but he will speak what he hears,
and will declare to you the things that are coming.
He will glorify me,
because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.
Everything that the Father has is mine;
for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine
and declare it to you.”
The Notre Dame family regularly recalls Fr. Hesburgh’s repeated plea to pray “Come Holy Spirit.” This profound supplication asks the Holy Spirit’s assistance to properly order and guide all aspects of our lives. The Gospel for today’s Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity directs us to a deeper understanding of this ordering. Jesus tells us when the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide us to all truth. Jesus provides an order: first the Spirit must come to us, whom we receive with faith and from whom we receive grace, and only then are we guided to “all truth”.
The great nineteenth-century theologian, Blessed John Henry Newman, reminds us that from Ash Wednesday to Trinity Sunday is the Sacramental Season, during which we are all called first to faith and then to a tangible truth. Newman writes: “The earnest heart is the good ground in which faith takes root, and the truths of the gospel are like the dew, the sunshine, and the soft rain, which make that heavenly seed grow.” Each “Sacramental Season,” we are reminded that we have received a divine treasure in the gift of Christ’s saving love.
As we move from this “Sacramental Season” let us continue to order our lives of faith so we can serve, worship and adore the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Let us bring Christ’s truth to a world longing for his love. “Come Holy Spirit.”
Prayer
Loving God, Christ promised his disciples the gift of the Spirit who would guide them to all truth. In these often confusing and difficult times, many “truths” are spoken. Open us up to the gifts of your Spirit to be able to discern your truth so that we may more faithfully speak it to others and embrace it more fully in our own lives. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Lutgard is held as one of the greatest female mystics of her age; an encounter with the Lord in a vision changed her life.
She was born in 1182 in the Netherlands. Her father had saved money for her marriage dowry, but lost it in a bad business deal. Fearing that she would never be married, her parents sent her to live in a Benedictine convent.
She was an average girl for her time—she was attractive, liked to dress well, and amused herself with simple things. She did not appear to have a vocation to become a nun, and was allowed to live at the convent like a boarder—she could come and go and receive visitors as she liked.
One day, as she was visiting with a friend, Jesus appeared to her. He showed her his wounds, and asked her to love him alone. She accepted instantly, and changed her life—she turned away from worldly concerns and began to dedicate her energy to prayer and conversion in order to respond to this graced encounter.
The older nuns in the convent saw her fervor and said that it would not last but it only increased. She frequently saw the Lord when she was in prayer, and had a familiarity with him. If she was called away during her prayer, she would simply say, “Wait here, Lord Jesus, and I will come back as soon as I have finished this task.” She also saw Mary and several other saints. Sometimes strange signs accompanied her prayer—she would rise from the ground, or people would notice a strange light above her head.
She often felt like she was poorly responding to the opportunity she had been given to grow in holiness. After 12 years, Lutgard decided to increase her practice of the faith by moving to a convent with a stricter way of life.
Eleven years before she died, she lost her sight. She saw this loss as a gift—as a way to further detach herself from the things of this world. During one appearance, Jesus warned her of her impending death, and instructed her to prepare for it with three practices: to praise God for all she had received; to pray for the conversion of sinners; and to rely on God alone. She did these things and died on the day that was foretold to her, which was on this date in 1246.
Relics of St. Lutgard rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica. This painting of her is from the collection at the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art on campus, and is used with permission.
St. Lutgard, who became a mystic after being sent to a convent because her dowry was lost in a scam, pray for us!
Image Credit: Anonymous (Czechoslovakian, 16th century), Saint Lutgarde of Aywières, 16th century, oil on panel. Raclin Murphy Museum of Art: Gift of Dr. Lillian Malcove, 1974.091.