Daily Gospel Reflection
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May 17, 2026
The eleven disciples went to Galilee,
to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.
When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.
Then Jesus approached and said to them,
“All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner. The full readings of the day from the Lectionary are available here.
In the lead-up to his passion and death, Jesus repeatedly tells his disciples that he will have to suffer and die and then be raised on the third day. But as he undergoes his passion, the disciples flee in fear. And when they see the empty tomb, they are confused.
When Jesus appears to the women and tells them to instruct the disciples to go to Galilee, where they will see him, they all obey—and they do see him there! And yet we hear, “When they saw him, they worshipped him, but they doubted.” Even though they saw, they still were troubled with doubt.
So often we contrast belief and doubt. But throughout the gospels, the apostles—who are in many ways the exemplars of what it means to be a disciple—continue to struggle with doubt. Our lives of faith, even when we see, are marked by moments of doubt. Experiencing doubt is no reason for despair and is quite far from it.
Doubt often comes as we try to root our experiences of faith in the reality of a broken world. Doubt results when we try to take an abstract faith and make it real. The resurrection of Jesus to a life after death is easier to assent to as an abstract concept but is harder to imagine as reality. So it was for the disciples who witnessed it themselves, and so it can be for us.
I pray that as we look up to heaven on this feast of the Ascension, we may continue to bring our faith in the resurrection of Jesus to life on this earth. The process may bring along times of doubt, but we need not be discouraged. Instead, may our prayer be “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
Prayer
God of wisdom and truth, you reveal to people of faith your oneness amid the diversity and uniqueness in the world around us. Make yourself known to us and to all people, as the one God, living and true. Affirm your truth in our lives that we may be witnesses of your unchanging presence. May your declared truth in the life and teachings of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, be our salvation and guide. 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, 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.
