Daily Gospel Reflection
Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.
March 29, 2019
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.
I have a tendency to rely heavily on my head rather than my heart. I have always approached my faith with this same analytical perspective. Although it’s more comfortable for me to approach my faith through logic and reason, I have found it has made it a lot harder for me to embrace my faith with my heart.
My first semester here at Notre Dame did nothing to alter these tendencies. In my first philosophy course last fall, I was steeped in the power of human reason. While our reason can help us understand God’s revelation, I eventually realized that relying so heavily on my mental faculties meant that I had closed my heart off to the call of God’s deep, transcendent love.
A defining moment in my journey came this past January when I began some preliminary reading for my Biblical Foundations of Theology class.
For this class, we read Dei Verbum, a constitution from the Second Vatican Council. Dei Verbum discusses the importance of Sacred Scripture in revelation and the Church. As I read, I was struck by the simple but profound truth that all of God’s interactions with human beings have sprung from God’s inexhaustible love of all creation. Our faith is a spectacularly beautiful love story. And if love is the foundation of God’s every interaction with humanity, so must it be the foundation of ours, too.
As Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel, our primary obligation is to love. The ritual, the structure, and the organization of Catholicism exist to support this fundamental calling. Love of God and love of neighbor must be the root of everything we do.
Prayer
O God, whose love never fails, give us the insight and understanding of the scribe. May we hear your commands, and may they find a home in us and guide us to your truth. As we walk in your ways, we ask you to open the doors of the heavenly kingdom to us. Amen.
Saint of the Day
As bishop, St. Ludolph conformed his life to what he believed to be true, and suffered greatly for those convictions. Though he was not killed for his faith, he is honored as a martyr for the persecution he bore on account of his beliefs.
He was elected bishop of Ratzeburg, Germany, in 1236, but continued to live like a monk. He expanded the Church in his diocese, founding convents and deepening the practice of the faith. This work and his efforts defending the Church caused conflict with the duke, who had Ludolph imprisoned, beaten, and finally banished.
He died in exile around 1250 from the effects of the harsh treatment he received.
St. Ludolph, who suffered for defending the Church and spreading the faith—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Ludolph is in the public domain. Last accessed February 13, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
