Daily Gospel Reflection
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March 21, 2026
Some in the crowd who heard these words of Jesus said,
“This is truly the Prophet.”
Others said, “This is the Christ.”
But others said, “The Christ will not come from Galilee, will he?
Does not Scripture say that the Christ will be of David’s family
and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?”
So a division occurred in the crowd because of him.
Some of them even wanted to arrest him,
but no one laid hands on him.
So the guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees,
who asked them, “Why did you not bring him?”
The guards answered, “Never before has anyone spoken like this man.”
So the Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived?
Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?
But this crowd, which does not know the law, is accursed.”
Nicodemus, one of their members who had come to him earlier, said to them,
“Does our law condemn a man before it first hears him
and finds out what he is doing?”
They answered and said to him,
“You are not from Galilee also, are you?
Look and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”
Then each went to his own house.
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.
Prejudice. Webster’s Collegiate defines it as an opinion or a leaning adverse to anything without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge.
In our reading today from the Gospel of John, should we call the Pharisees prejudiced? They believed Jesus was a Galilean, and the Christ could not come from a lowly place like Galilee. How could the people, the rabble, “this crowd,” believe he is the Christ? They must be “accursed.” No, this Jesus is definitely not the Christ. And yet: The guards refused to arrest him, and were chastised by the Pharisees. “Have you also been deceived” by the crowd?
The passage forces us to ask ourselves: How do we see Jesus? Some in the crowd said he was the prophet, and others that he was the Christ. Many others likely believed the verdict was still out, waiting for the authorities—the Pharisees themselves—to make the call. Or maybe we’re like Nicodemus, a Pharisee himself but unafraid to buck authority, and say: Let’s find out some more about this Jesus and his teachings.
Today, we’re lucky. We have many sources to find out more about Jesus. As we near the end of the Lenten season, we still have time to read and ponder, listen and pray to learn more about Jesus, the Christ. Then we can say with the guards, “Never before has anyone spoken like this man.”
Instead of rushing to judgment like the Pharisees, our Lent can be a time to listen to our hearts and minds. We can be a modern Nicodemus, making no condemnation without learning the facts and finding out what another is doing. Is there someone in my life or yours that we have condemned or spurned without hearing the other side of the story? Lent shouldn’t end without righting that situation.
Prayer
As we look for you, Christ Jesus, help us to put aside our preconceptions of who we would have you be and see you as you are and where you are. Help us to see the prophets among us and to have the wisdom to discern false prophets. May your words and teachings be the baseline of our faith. We ask this in your name, Christ the teacher. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Blessed Maria Candida of the Eucharist is a patient and tender model of holiness whose love for God and passion for the Eucharist as the foundation of the Christian life is an inspiration. Maria Candida, born Maria Barba, became a Carmelite in Italy and devoted herself to making the Eucharist the foundation of her spiritual life.
Maria was born in January 1884 to a large Italian family in Southern Italy. She was the tenth of twelve children, although only seven survived childhood. Raised in a devout household, Maria was formed in a rich Catholic imagination. When she would greet her mother coming home from church, Maria would cry: "I want to receive God, too." Maria received her First Communion when she was ten years old, and, from that moment onward, she experienced an even greater love and devotion for the Eucharist. The young Maria hungered to receive the Eucharist frequently, and developed what she called a "vocation for the Eucharist."
Alongside this love for Christ in the Eucharist, she began to feel a deep desire for religious life, particularly after watching her cousin take religious vows. Maria's parents absolutely forbade her from following in her cousin's footsteps. Just one year before this, however, 1898, Thérèse of Lisieux's autobiography The Story of a Soul was published. Thérèse's writings became wildly popular throughout Europe and were soon translated into six different languages and disseminated throughout the continent. Maria read Thérèse's memoir and Thérèse's story inspired Maria to persist in her desire for Carmel, despite her parents' resistance.
Her father passed away in June 1904. Almost exactly ten years later, Maria's mother died. Maria mourned her parents, cared for her grieving family, and made plans to enter Carmel. She entered in September 1919, and took the name Maria Candida of the Eucharist when she received her habit in April 1920. None of her siblings attended the ceremony.
Maria Candida lived up to her new name and spent hours in prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament. Maria prolonged her allotted time of adoration, especially every Thursday, when from eleven pm to midnight she would be before the tabernacle. Not only was she enthusiastic about Eucharistic devotion, but the Eucharist was the foundation both of her spiritual life and her theological understanding of the Catholic faith. Maria's entire spiritual understanding of the world was articulated in Eucharistic terms and viewed through a Eucharistic lens. Her descriptions of the three theological virtues, the evangelical counsels she vowed to as a religious, and the role of the Virgin Mary were all grounded in the Eucharist.
For example, Maria wrote: "When I receive Jesus in Communion, Mary is always present. I want to receive Jesus from her hands, she must make me one with Him. I cannot separate Mary from Jesus. Hail, O Body born of Mary. Hail Mary, dawn of the Eucharist!"
Sr. Ann Astell, of Notre Dame's theology department, writes in her book Eating Beauty that the Eucharist is one of the primary ways for Catholics to understand beauty: "Fittingly chosen by Christ as a sign of human art, the bread becomes through consecration the appearance of Beauty itself, the sacramental form of Christ, the Word through whom God the Father created all things" (13). For Maria Candida, the Eucharist truly was the "source and summit" of the Christian life. It was her way to understand beauty, truth, and love. On the feast of Corpus Christi, 1933, Maria began writing down her meditations on the Eucharist and her own spiritual experiences in prayer. This was published as Eucharist: True Jewel of Eucharistic Spirituality in 1936.
After spending her years in Carmel in writing and in prayer, Maria Candida passed away of cancer in June 1949. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2004.
Blessed Maria Candida of the Eucharist, devoted disciple of Christ's Sacrament of Love—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of Bl. Maria Candida of the Eucharist is in the public domain. Last accessed February 6, 2025 on Get Archive.