Daily Gospel Reflection
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May 11, 2022
Jesus cried out and said,
“Whoever believes in me believes not only in me
but also in the one who sent me,
and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me.
I came into the world as light,
so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness.
And if anyone hears my words and does not observe them,
I do not condemn him,
for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world.
Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words
has something to judge him: the word that I spoke,
it will condemn him on the last day,
because I did not speak on my own,
but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and speak.
And I know that his commandment is eternal life.
So what I say, I say as the Father told me.”
When I teach about the Trinity in my high school theology classes, most students look at me with blank stares. I attempt to explain as clearly as possible that the Trinity is three co-eternal persons in one divine being or substance. This profound, albeit confusing, mystery is supported by how we can see the footprints of the Trinity in scripture. Today’s gospel passage is one of those footprints.
When I imagine Jesus sharing today’s discourse with his disciples, I’m sure they had their share of blank stares and confused faces. Jesus explains that he was sent by his Father and gives the commands of the Father. And as Christians, we believe that Jesus is fully human and divine. How can Jesus be God and also sent by God?
This passage invites us to ponder the mystery of the Trinity, challenging us to deeply consider who God is and how that reality impacts our lives.
The Trinity reveals that God is a perfect relationship. This perfect love overflows and pours out onto us through the Holy Spirit. The nature of God reveals to us what it means to love others and how to be in a good relationship with others.
In today’s gospel, Jesus invites us to respond to God by following the Father’s commands. The greatest of those commandments is loving God and loving our neighbor. God calls us to reflect this perfect and unifying love in our communities.
We are called to reflect the life of the Trinity.
Prayer
Just because we know that you exist, O God, does not mean that we always believe in you and your goodness for all people. Strengthen our faith in your presence to us, especially through the Word of Scripture and the sacraments of your Church. May our belief in you reveal itself in our goodness to others, especially in ways of sacrifice and service. We ask all this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!
Saint of the Day
St. Francis di Girolamo was tireless in working to convert sinners and reaching out to the poor, winning many people to greater faith. He is known as the Apostle to Naples because that is where he spent most of his time and energy.
He was born in Italy in 1642, the eldest of 11 children. After making his first Communion at the age of 12, he went to live with a community of priests in his town. They could clearly see that he was special, and began to entrust to him greater roles in the congregation, including teaching the catechism.
Francis went to Naples to study civil and canon law, and was ordained a priest there in 1666 (he had to receive special permission because at 24, he was too young). He taught at a Jesuit university in Naples for five years and students there began to refer to him as “the holy priest.”
He decided to join the Jesuit order, and his superiors tested him with many difficulties. He impressed everyone, however, and was sent to do mission work with a famous preacher. He then returned to Naples and finished his education and was appointed to a church there.
Francis desperately wanted to travel to Japan as a missionary—reports stated that every missionary who landed there was killed. It was decided, though, that he should remain in Naples, so he began to train other missionaries.
Large crowds gathered to hear him preach, and many people sought him out for confession. Miracles and wonders were reported from his intercession. Some estimate that he converted 400 sinners each year. He regularly visited the sick in hospitals and the imprisoned, including those waiting for execution. He was fearless in pursuing sinners even on their own territory in places of ill repute—and he was beaten up a number of times for his efforts.
Sometimes he would feel a spontaneous urge to begin preaching in the middle of the street. One night, in the middle of a storm, he felt called to begin preaching to an empty, dark alley. The next day, a sinner came to his confessional who had heard him through an open window.
The most famous sinner he converted was a French woman who killed her father and fled to Spain, where she dressed as a man and enlisted in the army. She sought direction from Francis, and not only repented from her sins but also went on to become known as a holy woman.
St. Francis di Girolamo died at the age of 74, and his relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
St. Francis di Girolamo, you relentlessly sought out sinners on their own turf and won many to the faith—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Francis di Girolamo is used with permission from Catholic Online. Last accessed March 6, 2025.