Daily Gospel Reflection
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May 17, 2022
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give it to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
You heard me tell you,
‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’
If you loved me,
you would rejoice that I am going to the Father;
for the Father is greater than I.
And now I have told you this before it happens,
so that when it happens you may believe.
I will no longer speak much with you,
for the ruler of the world is coming.
He has no power over me,
but the world must know that I love the Father
and that I do just as the Father has commanded me.”
Goodbyes always seem overwhelming at the start. Whether saying goodbye to friends who live far away or saying goodbye to one’s family when moving out, it is hard to imagine breaking a pattern of being with those we love.
When Jesus said to his disciples, “I am going away, and I will come back to you. If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father,” I thought about how the disciples must have been feeling. After abandoning their work and devoting their lives to Jesus, he would leave them, and they were expected to be happy about it?
Understandably, they did not want to lose the person who had changed all of their lives for the better. Even more daunting, the responsibility of continuing the workt that he had started probably seemed overwhelming and terrifying. But Jesus was doing all of this for them.
I believe these difficult moments in which we must say goodbye encourage us to grow outside of our routine, improving our lives and the lives of those around us. For the disciples, this goodbye would start their mission of increasing Christ’s Church on earth.
For us? Saying goodbye can allow us to spend time to focus on the personal goals God has given us, to invest more time in the people that are around us, and to grow a greater appreciation for the people we miss. So, although difficult, goodbyes can offer an opportunity to begin something new even in the absence of someone we love.
Prayer
Dear God, our campus, our neighborhoods, our world longs for the peace that can only come from you. Help us to place our cares and our hearts in your hands. Your Son taught us to trust in you and the mystery of the cross. Help us when we are afraid to trust in you and your promise of new life. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen!
Saint of the Day
Even though he was not a priest, St. Paschal Baylon is known as the “Saint of the Eucharist.”
He was born in 1540 in Spain to a peasant family. He tended sheep until he was 24 years old. While he watched the sheep in the fields, he would spend great amounts of time in prayer. He even taught himself to read and write so that he could pray to Mary with a popular devotional book.
Paschal went barefoot through the fields and fasted; he even wore a makeshift monk's habit under his shepherd’s cloak. He attended Mass whenever he could. When he couldn’t be at Mass, he would find an outcropping where he could see the church’s steeple from his post watching the sheep, and he would kneel there in prayer and silent adoration of the Eucharist.
He joined a Franciscan community of brothers who observed a strict way of life. Paschal adopted these rigors, but was even more well-known for his virtue. He would not allow the slightest dishonesty, and those who knew him well could not recall a single fault.
As a member of the Franciscan monastery, he cultivated an ever-deeper devotion to the Eucharist. He would serve at Mass all day long if he could, and would be found spending hours kneeling in front of the tabernacle in prayer. He was always the first to arrive for Mass, and the last to leave.
Paschal was asked to carry a message to an important scholar in France, and the journey took him through a region known for its hostility to the faith. Though he was captured several times, was beaten, and narrowly escaped with his life, he was able to respond to his interrogators with faithfulness and clarity.
He served his community as a cook and doorkeeper, and was known for his charity to the poor. Though he was poorly educated, many people sought him out for his wisdom.
One of his superiors, having heard of his devotion after his death, asked for a booklet of prayers that the saint had penned in his own hand. When a fellow brother brought it to him, he said, “What are we to do? These simple souls are wresting heaven from our hands. There is nothing for it but to burn our books.” His brother said, “It is not the books that are at fault, but our own pride. Let us burn that.”
The relics of St. Paschal rest in the reliquary chapel.
St. Paschal Baylon, the Franciscan brother known as the “Saint of the Eucharist”—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Paschal Baylon is in the public domain. Last accessed March 11, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
