Daily Gospel Reflection
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June 16, 2026
Jesus said to his disciples:
“You have heard that it was said,
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?
Do not the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brothers only,
what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner. The full readings of the day from the Lectionary are available here.
A priest once told me the most radical thing Jesus said in the gospel was to eat his flesh and drink his blood (Jn 6:53-56), but I think the hardest thing to actually do is in this verse from Matthew.
To “be perfect”…to love and forgive as God does…can seem so completely unattainable, why bother trying? Yet Jesus isn’t offering this as a suggestion. So how do we do it?
Saint Teresa of Calcutta told us, “If we really want to love, we must learn how to forgive.” I remember watching a story on television of a family that forgave the murderer of their child. They said the forgiveness was actually freeing for them, that it kept them from being imprisoned, too. How often do I hold on to grudges, anger, or resentment and become shackled in my own mind by them?
Most of us are not asked to forgive at that level…and I, for one, still come up short. Personally, I struggle enough with my small “persecutions”…a perceived slight from a friend, a difficult relationship with a family member, someone with the audacity to disagree with me on social media. (Gasp!) Do I allow these moments to live rent-free in my head for days…weeks….years, or do I show the kind of grace and mercy that I require from God?
Loving my enemies and forgiving my persecutors truly is not about them. It’s really the best thing we can do for ourselves, because when we do it, it frees us to receive God’s own love and forgiveness daily. Now that’s a radical concept!
Prayer
O Jesus, our Prince of Peace, help us to learn from you to be gentle and humble of heart. Give us strength and comfort when we are afflicted and bring us to conversion when we afflict our sisters and brothers, that we may be heralds of your kingdom on earth. We ask this through your most Holy Name, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. 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.