Daily Gospel Reflection
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May 15, 2021
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.
Until now you have not asked anything in my name;
ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.
“I have told you this in figures of speech.
The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures
but I will tell you clearly about the Father.
On that day you will ask in my name,
and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you.
For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me
and have come to believe that I came from God.
I came from the Father and have come into the world.
Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”
“Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete”
I recall a story of my younger brother that my family and I laugh about all the time. One day, we had a dinner that my younger brother was not too pleased with. He asked for something else, and yet received food that did not suit his liking. Storming off into his room, he vowed that he would not eat dinner that night, taking a solemn fast. Of course, a little while later, he gave in to his hunger and marched back into the kitchen, sitting down at the table with an air of contempt. He then proclaimed the now-famous line in our family: “I’m gonna eat it, but I’m NOT gonna like it!”
While my family and I often laugh about this story, it makes me wonder how often I ask for something from God and receive something that I don’t like. How often do I pray to God only to find that the answer to my prayer is not what I hoped for? Many times, I march off into the recesses of my heart, angry with God’s loving response to my prayer, giving him the silent treatment to show my anger. But, God always seeks me and finds me. God desires to comfort me in my suffering and knows what is best for me in all things. God only desires to give me the grace necessary to bear the suffering in my life knowing that one day my joy will be made complete by divine grace. I turn to God and say “I’m gonna accept this grace, but I’m NOT gonna like it!” We both laugh, and then I return to that path that I am not so excited to walk, on towards heaven. May we always look to God for the grace to bear our sufferings in this difficult time, and may we trust in the promise of joy that Jesus Christ gives us in this gospel passage. Amen.
Prayer
In your gentleness, O Lord Jesus, you never give us more than we can bear. You never ask us to do something without at the same time giving us the needed grace. We thank you for your presence in our life through the Spirit, and pray that we may be a blessing and a life-giver to all whom we meet this day. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Isidore is patron saint of farmers—he lived as a poor and faithful workman in Spain in the 12th century.
He was born in Madrid to a poor family who named him after the great scholar-saint Isidore of Seville. They were not able to provide education for their son, but they raised him with a firm faith and a strong devotion to prayer. As soon as he was old enough to work, Isidore was hired to a wealthy man from Madrid and he worked the rest of his life on the man’s estate outside of the city. He married a poor girl, Maria, and they bore one son.
Isidore’s devotion stretched into adulthood—he rose early every day to attend Mass, and he would commune with God in prayer during his labors throughout the day. He was generous to other poor people, often giving them what food he had and settling for their scraps.
Miracles were attributed to his prayer—on one occasion, he showed up late to a gathering with a small crowd of beggars. The hosts had saved enough food for him, but could not feed the others. Isidore was confident that there would be enough, and when all were seated and served, there was plenty.
Isidore is also known for a love of animals. During one winter, he was carrying a sack of corn to the mill to be ground to flour. Noticing all the hungry birds around him, he opened the sack and poured half of it on the ground for them. He was ridiculed for the waste, but when he reached the mill, the sack produced double the normal amount of flour.
Isidore died on this date in 1130, and a number of other miracles (438 are documented) were ascribed to his help—he assisted the king of Spain through a vision in a battle, for example, and his relics were associated with the healing of a later monarch.
His wife, Maria, lived another few years after Isidore’s death before she died (their son had died during his childhood). Though she has not yet been canonized, she is honored in Spain as “Santa Maria de la Cabeza” because her head (cabeza) was kept as a relic in a chapel and used in processions to pray for the end of drought.
Relics of St. Isidore the Farmer rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica, and he is patron of farmers and of the United States National Catholic Rural Life Conference.
St. Isidore the Farmer, you and your wife led a simple life of great faith that produced wonders—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of Sts. Isidore and Maria is in the public domain. Last accessed March 11, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
