Daily Gospel Reflection
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May 12, 2021
Jesus said to his disciples:
“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.
But when he comes, the Spirit of truth,
he will guide you to all truth.
He will not speak on his own,
but he will speak what he hears,
and will declare to you the things that are coming.
He will glorify me,
because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.
Everything that the Father has is mine;
for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine
and declare it to you.”
Christ’s words to his disciples during this farewell discourse at the end of his ministry remind us that we cannot fully bear the weight of everything he wants to express to us. Sometimes I wish Jesus wouldn’t tell us what we can’t bear because it seems I’m always running into things I can’t handle.
So much of my daily life is outside my control: the poor health of family members that I am helpless to improve, large political changes that affect human life, personal heartbreak, failure, and pain. Within my heart, my struggle against sin often seems too heavy to carry. I can’t bear it all. My human frailty is a reality I am faced with every day.
But Christ is aware of our weakness. Indeed, our creator knows us well. He wrapped himself in our frail flesh and walked among us to show us that even in this frailty, even though so much is out of our control and outside of our influence, we can be strong in him. In his promise to send his Spirit, we find the profound hope that makes us Christian. This hope means that when we run into things we can’t handle, we are not alone in our weakness.
A great strength is with us, a strength we can rest on, a strength that will bear us up despite what we ourselves can’t bear. All we need to do, then, is reach out to accept this strength with gratitude, letting it lift our hearts out of helplessness and into peace.
Prayer
Loving God, Christ promised his disciples the gift of the Spirit who would guide them to all truth. In these often confusing and difficult times, many “truths” are spoken. Open us up to the gifts of your Spirit to be able to discern your truth so that we may more faithfully speak it to others and embrace it more fully in our own lives. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Sts. Nereus and Acheilleus were soldiers in the Roman army who were killed for refusing to participate further in persecuting Christians.
The Church has long honored these two saints, and the only certain history we have about them comes from an inscription that was placed above their tomb by Pope St. Damasus. Though it has worn away, we have records of what it said from pilgrims who visited their tomb and copied down the inscription. It describes the two soldiers who followed orders to persecute and kill Christians until they followed the truth they saw in Christ:
“The martyrs Nereus and Achilleus had enrolled themselves in the army and exercised the cruel office of carrying out the orders of the tyrant, being ever ready through the constraint of fear to obey his will. O miracle of faith! Suddenly they cease from their fury, they become converted, they fly from the camp of their wicked leader; they throw away their shields, their armor, and their blood-stained javelins. Confessing the faith of Christ, they rejoice to bear testimony to its triumph. Learn now from the words of Damasus what great things the glory of Christ can accomplish.”
We do not know how the two were martyred, though they were probably beheaded because they were Roman citizens. We can suppose that they, more than most Christians of the day, knew what consequences they would face because of their profession of faith.
A later legend arose about these two martyrs, which stated that they served Domitilla, the grand-niece of the emperor who was exiled for professing her faith. It is likely that this story is inaccurate, though, and simply comes from the fact that they were buried in a cemetery named after Domitilla.
Relics of these two martyrs do rest in reliquary chapel of the Basilica, however. They are depicted here with Domitilla, who used to be listed as a saint, but was removed due to a lack of historical evidence.
Sts. Nereus and Acheilleus, you were martyred for refusing to follow orders to kill Christians—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of Sts. Nereus and Acheilleus is in the public domain. Last accessed March 6, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
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