Daily Gospel Reflection
Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.
March 9, 2022
While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them,
“This generation is an evil generation;
it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it,
except the sign of Jonah.
Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites,
so will the Son of Man be to this generation.
At the judgment
the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation
and she will condemn them,
because she came from the ends of the earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon,
and there is something greater than Solomon here.
At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation
and condemn it,
because at the preaching of Jonah they repented,
and there is something greater than Jonah here.”
“I have pancreatic cancer.” Those four words, spoken to me by my wife about a year ago, were among the most bracing words I have ever heard. Mortality suddenly became much more imminent for me.
In about 80% of pancreatic cancer cases, by the time the disease is discovered the cancer has already metastasized, making it impossible to remove the tumor entirely. Doctors then only slow the development of cancer and provide pain relief.
I thought of those words when I read today’s gospel passage, focusing on the sign of Jonah. Jonah did not mince words. He was a stark reminder to the Ninevites that they had to change their ways without delay. They and their king got the message and immediately sought reconciliation. And God forgave them.
Sometimes we need stark reminders to shake us out of our complacency.
We are one week into Lent now, about five weeks more to go. Signs like Jonah are often what we need—simple, unambiguous, stark—to remind us to redouble our efforts. Could I do more to be attentive to God trying to speak to me in prayer? Could I do more in the way of fasting, in the sense of detaching myself from what interferes with my relationship with God and the people in my life? Could I be more generous in giving, not just money, but my time and talents?
Weeks after the initial diagnosis, my wife and I received additional test results—the cancer had not metastasized. A course of chemotherapy, surgery and more chemotherapy followed. Today, the cancer seems to be gone, though we know that we will have to be vigilant in the future. This stark reminder of mortality increased our vigilance, not only in caring for our bodies but also for our hearts and souls.
May it be so with us through the final five weeks of Lent.
Prayer
Father of mercy and forgiveness, you are patient with our obstinate hearts. Stir us to be receptive to your Word, Jesus Christ, just as the Queen of Sheba sought the wisdom of Solomon and the Ninevites responded to the prophetic words of Jonah. May we hear your Word and keep it. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Though he died when he was just 15 years old, St. Dominic Savio displayed a remarkable depth of humanity and holiness. He is one of the youngest non-martyr saints to be canonized by the Church.
He was born in Italy in 1842 to a peasant family and, even as a young boy, had a desire to become a priest. St. John Bosco was fostering vocations among young men who might one day become priests to help him in his work with wayward boys. He took Dominic, aged 12, into his care and training at an oratory that John founded in Turin.
Dominic had clear sight of what was right and wrong and acted decisively. When he received his first Communion, he adopted a personal motto: "Death, but not sin!" He would often slip away from the playground during a recess to make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament.
One time, he broke up a fight between two boys who were ready to beat each other with stones by holding up a crucifix between them. “Before you fight, look at this,” he said. “Say, ‘Jesus Christ was sinless and he died forgiving his executioners. I am a sinner, and I am going to outrage him by being deliberately revengeful.’ Then you can start, and throw your first stone at me.”
Though he was strictly observant of rules, Dominic was also quick to laugh, which sometimes got him into trouble with his superiors. He was also a great storyteller, which endeared him to younger boys especially.
John Bosco led the boys in a healthy and balanced spirituality, insisting on cheerfulness, playfulness, and attentiveness to duties. Dominic followed his lead—he would often say, “I can’t do big things. But I want all I do, even the smallest thing, to be for the greater glory of God.”
John Bosco wrote the biography of Dominic himself and took special care to write only what he had observed himself. He recorded Dominic’s spiritual gifts judiciously, including his supernatural knowledge of people in need or his insight into the future. For example, one time Dominic asked John to follow him into the city. Dominic led the priest to an apartment building, rang on a door, and promptly left. The door was answered by a man who was dying and had just been asking for a priest so he could make his last confession.
Dominic would often get caught up in rapturous prayer—to the point that he would lose track of time or get lost in the experience. On one occasion, he was found standing in the same position in prayer for six hours, thinking that the Mass he had been at had not yet ended. He called them his “distractions,” saying, “It seems as though heaven is opening just above me. I am afraid I may say or do something that will make the other boys laugh.”
Dominic was in poor health, and he was sent home from the oratory in Turin for some fresh air. Doctors diagnosed him with inflammation of the lungs and bled him, according to the practice of the time. Dominic's health slowly declined and received the anointing of the sick before dying on this date in 1857. Just before he died, he sat up and said these last words, “I am seeing the most wonderful things!”
Though many objected to such a young person being held up as a saint, Pope St. Pius X, who began the canonization process for Dominic, said, “A teenager such as Dominic, who bravely struggled to keep his innocence from Baptism to the end of his life, is really a saint.” St. Dominic’s relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
St. Dominic Savio, young teenage saint and visionary—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Dominic Savio is in the public domain. Last accessed February 6, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
