Daily Gospel Reflection
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March 28, 2025
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.
At first blush, this passage caused me to squirm under the weight of expectation. How can I possibly measure up?
In time, I have come to see the grace of God in this brief exchange, particularly when “Jesus [sees] that the scribe answered with understanding” and tells him, “‘You are not far from the Kingdom of God.’” Perhaps this scribe understood Jesus because the one God whom Jesus is proclaiming has grasped the scribe’s mind and heart, causing the scribe to perceive the world in the light of Jesus’ coming. In other words, the scribe gets all of it because God’s grace, through Jesus, is revealing it to him.
Isn’t this the way God conducts us, too? Grasping our hearts and minds, aiding us in understanding so that we may love God and neighbor. The demands of this passage feel total, but God’s commitment to enabling us to meet that demand is equally total.
I work at St. Margaret’s House, a day shelter for women and children tucked away in the heart of downtown South Bend. Just this week, I’ve borne witness to our guest Michelle giving her blanket to another guest, Lisa, who was experiencing severe pain while trying to sleep; I teared up when my colleague, Angela, offered a hug to deeply distressed Jenny, who received the hug and sighed the words “that feels so good.” I learned that our guest, Mary, conveys Barb, a person living with Parkinson’s disease, to the bus station each afternoon to make her day just a little bit easier. God’s got St. Margaret’s House—and genuine faith communities everywhere—in God’s grasp, inspiring us to love one another.
May God bring us, as the scribe, near to the kingdom, and the kingdom near to us, over and over again, in the communities in which we live and love.
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. Conon is a popular local saint in Sicily. He was born in the middle of the twelfth century and is credited with saving the town of Naso from famine.
St. Conon was a monk, most accounts say of the order of St. Basil of Caesarea. The most colorful tale of St. Conon tells the story of a miraculous vision he had while on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Conon traveled from Italy to Jerusalem. While in Jerusalem, Conon dreamed that a priest he knew back home in Sicily was being strangled by a snake. This disturbing nightmare apparently stuck with Conon.
Months later, upon his return home to Sicily, Conon told the priest about the dream. Feeling the pangs of a guilty conscience, the priest instantly confessed to Conon that he had been stealing funds from the Church and using the money for his own selfish desires.
Conon died on March 28, 1236, in Naso, Sicily, which has honored him as its patron since.
In 1571, the people of Naso were suffering from a terrible famine. A ship appeared in the nearby port, bringing a hold full of precious grain to the hungry villagers. The captain of the ship credited his rerouting to Naso to a miraculous vision of Conon, telling him to sail there. Thus, the people of Naso were saved.
St. Conon of Naso, pilgrim and miracle-worker—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Conon of Naso is available for use under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Modified from the original. Last accessed February 6, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
