Daily Gospel Reflection
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May 15, 2023
Jesus said to his disciples:
“When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father,
the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father,
he will testify to me.
And you also testify,
because you have been with me from the beginning.
“I have told you this so that you may not fall away.
They will expel you from the synagogues;
in fact, the hour is coming when everyone who kills you
will think he is offering worship to God.
They will do this because they have not known either the Father or me.
I have told you this so that when their hour comes
you may remember that I told you.”
Jesus’ message from our reading is not just for the disciples. Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit to us too. It follows then that it is not only the job of the disciples 2000 years ago to testify to Christ, but also for us to testify to him today.
Jesus has been with us from the beginning of our lives, and it is up to us now to testify to him in word and deed. We can all think of someone in each of our lives who is not a Christian or who has fallen away from the Church. Perhaps Jesus is challenging us to testify of God’s love to this person concerning him.
It can be difficult and awkward to testify to Jesus—living according to the teachings of the church can cost us much. It’s easier to keep our relationship with Jesus private instead of sharing him with others.
It’s easier to join in gossiping with friends instead of redirecting the conversation towards compassion, easier to stroke our pride instead of humbling ourselves before others, to harbor anger and resentment towards the acquaintance who wronged us instead of forgiving them. It’s easier to follow what society says is right and wrong rather than what Christ says is right and wrong.
We may not be expelled from our communities or killed for following Christ, as many have been throughout history, but Christ’s warnings apply to us too: taking these difficult paths rather than the easy ones are real crosses for us to bear as Christ’s followers.
Let us pray and act to testify to him and to carry our crosses so we “may not fall away,” knowing he bears them with us and leads us to an abundance of life.
Prayer
Loving Jesus, as we begin our sixth week celebrating your resurrection, the challenge of maintaining Easter joy is real. You also know from your life on earth the real challenges of maintaining faith and hope. You understand the difficulty of offering love in a world that can sometimes oppose the faith or encourage apathy towards it. Help us feel the support of the Advocate to help us remain faithful to the truth. We ask this in your most Holy Name. Amen.
Saint of the Day

In the 13th century, two ancient marble tombs were discovered in a city near Antwerp, Belgium. Buried inside were the bodies of two saints: St. Dymphna and St. Gerebernus.
When the relics of these two saints became known to the city, a number of healings were attributed to their intercession. Those suffering from epilepsy and mental illness suddenly found health through prayer to these saints.
Little is known of these saints, so popular belief filled in their history. It is thought that Dymphna was daughter to an Irish tribal king and a Christian princess, who baptized the girl and raised her as a Christian.
When Dymphna was a teenager, her mother died, leaving her father beside himself with grief. He searched the civilized world for a woman who looked like his deceased wife, but found none. Dymphna’s own beauty reminded him of his wife, and he made an advance upon Dymphna, but she escaped.
Her spiritual advisor was an old priest and family friend named Gerebernus. He advised her to leave the country, so together they fled to Belgium and found a small chapel near Antwerp. They decided to live there, both adopting a life of solitude and prayer.
They did not know that Dymphna’s father was pursuing them. He searched the countryside for his daughter, and finally caught wind of where she might be hiding. He discovered them and tried to convince them to return to Ireland. When they refused, he killed both Dymphna and Cerebernus.
The relics of St. Dymphna rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Notre Dame's campus. The image above of St. Dymphna was created by Matthew Alderman ’06 and is used here with permission.
St. Dymphna, patron saint of those who suffer from mental illness—pray for us!