Daily Gospel Reflection
Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.
June 28, 2026
Jesus said to his apostles:
“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me,
and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
and whoever does not take up his cross
and follow after me is not worthy of me.
Whoever finds his life will lose it,
and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.””Whoever receives you receives me,
and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.
Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet
will receive a prophet’s reward,
and whoever receives a righteous man
because he is a righteous man
will receive a righteous man’s reward.
And whoever gives only a cup of cold water
to one of these little ones to drink
because the little one is a disciple—
amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.”
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.
Jesus is giving us two messages in this gospel passage: the cost of discipleship, and the reward for receiving his disciples, for they will receive Jesus, and the one who sent him.
Today’s gospel reminds me of Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez, S.J.,he had a family, a successful business, and I am sure he loved them immensely. He lost his father at a young age, then at the age of 26, his wife passed away, shortly followed by the deaths of his mother and child, and the business he inherited failed. Amid such unimaginable loss, it would be understandable if he felt distant from God.
Yet it was his love for the Lord that sustained him. Feeling called to religious life, he entered the Society of Jesus and became a doorman at the Jesuit University of Majorca. Each time a person would knock on that door, he’d say, “I’m coming, Lord,” welcoming everyone as Jesus himself.
The life of this saint so powerfully encapsulates the two parts of this passage: to love God above all else, and to receive all people as if we are receiving Christ. We do not need to do much to receive Christ, as the life of St. Alphonsus exemplified, answering the door, or even a simple “cup of water” given out of love for God and his people, glorifies God.
The Ignatian examen is an important part of my prayer life; it helps me to see God’s presence more clearly throughout the day. One thing I ask myself when praying the examen is, “Did I see Jesus today in the people I encounter?” Doing this makes it possible for me to see where I do encounter Jesus, and where I may have missed him. To love God above all else, we must receive all people as Jesus.
Prayer
Lord God, we are thankful that we may come before you, confused, even puzzled at times of our failures and weakness in serving you. We know that if we seek forgiveness, we shall find it. You have assured us that even the angels in heaven rejoice over one sinner turning back to the Lord of love and forgiveness. Hear our prayer, Lord, and look not at our failures, but at our hearts that desire to be one with you. Let us honor you in word and deed, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Irenaeus was a bishop who so thoroughly refuted a certain strain of heresy in his region that his words were used throughout the Church to guide the truth that has been handed on to us today.
He was born in 125 and was educated by St. Polycarp, who personally knew and learned from St. John. Irenaeus was sent as a missionary to what is now Lyons, France. Trading routes were leading to the development of that region, and the Church was growing there. Irenaeus was assigned to work as a priest under the bishop, St. Pothinus.
The region fell under persecution, and Irenaeus was chosen to travel to Rome to deliver a letter and speak with the pope about a matter. While he was away, Pothinus was killed, along with many of the other priests who worked with him. Irenaeus stayed in Rome until it was safe, and later he returned to Lyons as its new bishop.
He was bishop there for some 20 years, and expanded the Church in the area. He even spoke the native Celtic dialect instead of his own Greek. Certain deviations of the faith were spreading through the area, and Irenaeus was determined to refute them and guide his flock with the true faith. He learned every variation of the heresy and then explained all of the distorted beliefs in a large work that also described the true faith that came to him from the apostles and is contained in Scripture.
These heresies were from a strain of thought called Gnosticism, which seemed attractive to people because it claimed to offer them secret wisdom that was not available to everyone. Irenaeus said that he was determined to “strip the fox.” His work in defense of the faith spread rapidly and was used everywhere to refute gnostic belief, which was a major threat to the early faith.
It is believed that Irenaeus was martyred, but there is little evidence for this. He died around the year 202, and his relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
St. Irenaeus, you defended the early Church from secret sects and ensured the truth of our faith today—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Irenaeus is available for use under a Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Last accessed March 19, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
