Daily Gospel Reflection
Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.
March 12, 2021
One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
“Which is the first of all the commandments?”
Jesus replied, “The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.”
The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher.
You are right in saying,
He is One and there is no other than he.
And to love him with all your heart,
with all your understanding,
with all your strength,
and to love your neighbor as yourself
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,
he said to him,
“You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
And no one dared to ask him any more questions.
In the days prior to the events in this gospel passage, Jesus and his disciples have come into Jerusalem to prepare for the Passover. After being welcomed with Hosannas, the mood changes quickly.
Everywhere Jesus and his disciples go, they encounter Pharisees, scribes, elders, Herodians, Sadducees and priests putting him to the test. They have tried to trip up Jesus with their questions. They are hoping that Jesus will answer in a way that will allow them to have him arrested and put to death:
“By what authority are you doing these things?”
“Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?”
“In the resurrection, whose wife will the widow be?”
In answering these questions, I can almost hear the frustration in Jesus’ voice as if he is saying, “Haven’t you been listening to me this entire time?” I think the frustration is in part Jesus’ humanity and realization that he isn’t questioned honestly by those who want to follow his teachings, but with nefarious intent. Jesus also knows that he is running out of time to do additional teaching and needs to prepare his disciples for his death.
In today’s passage, I see Jesus as the college professor who is being asked by a student, the scribe, to not only sum up all of his teaching into a single commandment, but also trying once again to trip him up. The scribe wants to know what will be on the final exam. Jesus’ response is clear, to love our God and each other with all of our being. Jesus has taught us to be more than just rule followers. We can fast, tithe, pray, and keep all of the other sacred laws and traditions, but if we haven’t loved our God and loved our neighbors, then we will remain far from the Kingdom of God.
May we have the faith to live out our call to action, to love with our whole heart, our whole soul, our whole mind and our whole strength!
Prayer
Lord God, draw us in! Draw us closer to your Kingdom! Help us to understanding rightly that we were made to love you and our neighbor, in all we think, say and do. May this Lent be for us a true season of renewal. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Seraphina, also known as Fina, is venerated for the courage with which she endured the suffering of illness.
Fina was born to a poor family in the town of San Gimignano, in the Tuscan region of Italy, in the 13th century. She was a beautiful child and had a strong devotion to prayer and to serving others. Even though her family was poor, she always kept half of her food to give to those who were also hungry. She helped her mother with chores and sewing during the day.
Her father died when she was still young, and at about that same time, she was struck with a mysterious disease that deformed her head, hands, eyes, and feet. Her physical appearance changed drastically and she eventually suffered paralysis and had to be carried around on a plank. The slightest movement caused great pain.
Though her mother had to leave her for hours on end to work or beg, Seraphina never complained. She strove for peace in her terrible pain by identifying her own suffering with Jesus’, saying, “It is not my wounds but thine, O Christ, that hurt me.”
When her mother died suddenly, she was left in utter poverty, reliant on other neighbors who were poor and who did not want to be exposed to her sores. She learned about St. Gregory the Great, who also suffered from a debilitating illness, and she developed a devotion to him, asking him for prayer that God might grant her patience in her suffering.
St. Gregory appeared to her to foretell the day she would die, which came to pass on this day in 1253. When her body was removed from the plank on which it rested, the wood was found to be covered with white flowers. Her relics rest in the reliquary chapel of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Notre Dame's campus.
St. Seraphina, who even in weakness became a strong sign of hope to the town of San Gimignano—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Seraphina is in the public domain. Last accessed February 6, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
