Daily Gospel Reflection

Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.

June 20, 2023

Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
Mt 5:43-48
Listen to the Audio Version

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.”

Reflection

Joseph Dimberio ’91, ‘95, M.B.A.
Share a Comment

Be “perfect.” It feels unimaginable. Pray for my enemy? Pray for those who persecute me? My immediate reaction when I feel slighted is to fight back or at the very least, hold a grudge. Let someone take advantage of me? No way. I find myself, at times, particularly stubborn, defensive, and slow to forgive. How do I possibly live up to Jesus’ directive?

A recent career transition has given me considerable time for self-reflection. I’ve realized that too often I’ve been reacting to the world around me with angst and apprehension, and not with agape love in 1 Corinthians 13: ”Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, …it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered….love never fails.”

I have heard and read this passage countless times but putting it into action can be incredibly difficult. I know I can’t control how people treat me, but I can control how I respond. And I think that’s the ultimate point Jesus is making.

In the final episode of Apple TV’s Ted Lasso, the notion of perfection was discussed. Coach Roy Kent strived to eliminate his imperfections. In a funny sequence the show’s characters threw out perfect films, perfect food, perfect albums, perfect works of art….they imagined perfection was all around them.

Coach Beard interrupted and said “I was talking about perfection in people” which immediately quieted the room. Club manager Higgins cleverly responded “Human beings are never going to be perfect, Roy. The best we can do is keep asking for help and accepting it when you can. And if you keep on doing that you’ll always be moving towards better.”

Though neither I nor you will ever be perfect, we can continually ask for God’s help, infinite love, and mercy and hopefully keep moving towards better.

Prayer

Rev. Terry Ehrman, C.S.C.

Heavenly Father, your Word is active and alive, effective and enlivening. It achieves the end for which you send it. Transformed by your Word and filled with your Spirit, may our words not be empty, but may we imitate you by speaking true words of forgiveness from the heart to those who sin against us. Amen.

Saint of the Day

Blessed Osanna of Mantua

Blessed Osanna of Mantua was born in 1449 in the Italian city of Mantua.

By the tender age of six, she reported having seen angels appear to her. She refused to marry, despite her father arranging a marriage to her. Instead, at the age of fourteen, she dedicated herself to the Dominican consecrated life by becoming a Third Order Dominican. Osanna was a great admirer of St. Catherine of Siena, a prolific Dominican, and Catherine's example inspired her to join the Dominicans.

Osanna returned home, having informed her father she had made vows. She waited thirty-seven years before taking final vows, caring for her siblings after their parents' deaths.

Osanna had many visions during prayer—she had a vision in which she saw her own heart before God, in which she saw the Blessed Virgin (as shown in the image to the left), in which she saw images of Christ in his Passion.

Osanna bore the marks of Christ's passion upon her head, side, and feet. Osanna was a spiritual guide to the poorest of the poor, the beggars whom she cared for, and to the ruling elite of Mantua.

Osanna died in Mantua in 1505. Her relics were later transferred to St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, where they lie today. She was beatified in 1694 by Pope Innocent XII.

Blessed Osanna of Mantua, stigmatic and mystic—pray for us!