Daily Gospel Reflection
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June 30, 2025
When Jesus saw a crowd around him,
he gave orders to cross to the other shore.
A scribe approached and said to him,
“Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”
Another of his disciples said to him,
“Lord, let me go first and bury my father.”
But Jesus answered him, “Follow me,
and let the dead bury their dead.”
“Come follow me.” It was these three words used to summon Matthew, Simon Peter, and Andrew, and each and every disciple that has been called by Jesus. It is the first words of the Constitutions of the Congregation of Holy Cross upon which our beloved University was built. It is the simple words that are both frighteningly simple and strikingly difficult.
My journey to Our Lady’s University was certainly not what I envisioned. After visiting my freshman year of high school, my heart was dead set on attending our beloved Notre Dame. I’d write letters to my future Notre Dame self, dream of what dorm I’d get placed in, and watch hours of YouTube videos of ND students living what I imagined as the “Notre Dream.” And yet, after an upsetting deferred and eventual rejection, my plans were turned upside down.
And yet, the call was simple: “Come follow me.” It meant shifting my prayers from “I pray I get admitted to Notre Dame” to the words of Notre Dame Our Mother, “Thy will be done.” While my heart was heavy, it meant speaking the words of the scribe in today’s gospel, “Teacher, I will follow wherever you go,” to let the Lord have his way and to leave nothing behind in pursuit of obedient discipleship.
My eventual transfer to ND during my sophomore year was an unexpected and yet necessary and abundant grace. The call to follow the Lord is certainly not easy, and assumes the many sorrowful mysteries. Yet, he calls us to take up our cross so we might join him in all the luminous and joyful and glorious mysteries of his resurrection. This is our mission: to answer his call and come and obediently follow him, leaving our nets and our lives and our worries behind.
Notre Dame—Our Mother, the first disciple, Queen of Hope—pray for us.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, would I feel a deep sense of loss if you were not part of my life? Let this question filter throughout our thoughts and actions this day. Help us to more faithfully follow you, the Lord of life. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Theobald left his home in France to pursue holiness in solitude; years later, his parents heard stories of a famous and holy hermit in Italy, and were shocked to learn that he was their son.
He was born in 1017 to a noble family. As a child, he was captivated by the early saints who fled the city to seek a life of solitude and prayer in the desert—saints like John the Baptist, Paul the Hermit, and Anthony the Great. He wanted to follow them in their pursuit of perfection and holiness.
As he grew, he was given a military command commensurate with his noble rank and was asked to lead soldiers into the field. He spoke with his commander and explained that he had made a vow to leave the world and live as a hermit. He spoke so eloquently and passionately that he was released.
Theobald and a friend named Walter left their home region and began living as wandering beggars. They built for themselves two small shelters in the forest and gave their lives to prayer and work, in the monastic tradition. For their labor, they went into the village and hired themselves out as field workers, hauled stones for masons, and cleaned stables. While they worked with their hands, their minds were absorbed in prayer. What little they earned they spent on coarse bread, which was their sustenance.
People began to take notice, and Theobald and Walter became well known for their practices and their holiness. The two friends wanted to escape notoriety and its danger of pride, so they went on pilgrimage. They walked the Camino de Santiago in Spain, then on to Rome.
They settled in Italy near Vicenza, and after two years there, Walter died. Theobald took it as a sign that he would soon die as well, so he gave himself even more to prayer and discipline. A number of followers gathered around him, and the local bishop ordained Theobald a priest so that they could celebrate the Sacraments together.
Stories of Theobald started to spread—people spoke of miracles and prophecies—and his parents learned that this famous hermit was their son. They traveled to Italy to visit him, and his mother resolved to stay with him; Theobald built her a small hermitage next to his. It was not long after that Theobald fell ill—he died on this date in 1066.
Theobald was canonized only seven years after his death, and his relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
St. Theobald, you were inspired by stories of Saints who sought perfection in the desert—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Theobald is available for use under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license. Last accessed March 19, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
