Daily Gospel Reflection
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May 19, 2025
Jesus said to his disciples:
“”Whoever has my commandments and observes them
is the one who loves me.
Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I will love him and reveal myself to him.””
Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him,
“”Master, then what happened that you will reveal yourself to us
and not to the world?””
Jesus answered and said to him,
“”Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.
Whoever does not love me does not keep my words;
yet the word you hear is not mine
but that of the Father who sent me.
“”I have told you this while I am with you.
The Advocate, the Holy Spirit
whom the Father will send in my name–
he will teach you everything
and remind you of all that I told you.””
These gospel teachings are formidable; we yearn for more guidance from our Lord as to how to react. “Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me….I will love them and reveal myself.” Jesus condenses it further, replying to the questions of his disciples: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.”
My Catholic grade school principal, Sr. Rita Heires, employed her own pithy commandment for those of us in her charge five decades ago in the 1970s. She would sometimes instill her “do as I say” message at St. Pius X School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with a powerful maxim: Do what is right because it is right.
Now, we students at the time might have been described as “stiff-necked people.” As much as we needed God’s message of obedience and righteous teachings, we sometimes balked. Sister prevailed, knowing that she could accomplish mighty deeds with mere eye contact. She served St. Pius School as principal from 1966 to 1974, then continued to serve the parish and the Franciscan Spirituality Center.
Recently, I visited Sr. Rita in retirement at the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration convent in La Crosse, Wisconsin. She remains gracious about her many student interactions, and her attempts to incite an ethic of obedience in her students, an ethic to accept God’s commandments, and thereby learn as schoolchildren to love God.
Before we ended our visit, I asked directly if a new sign in the St. Pius School lobby to “do what is right because it is right” might be a fitting tribute to a certain principal. Sister demurred, but I still think it might change some behavior—in students and even the adults who teach them.
Prayer
Dear Jesus, you promise to be with us through the presence of your Spirit, our Advocate. Bless us with your presence and the gift of your guidance. May our efforts bring you glory. Amen!
Saint of the Day
St. Ivo is the patron saint of lawyers because of the great lengths he went to serve his clients and the poor.
He was born to an aristocratic family in Brittany in 1253, in the northwest part of France. As a teenager, he was sent to schools in Paris, where he excelled as a student, and went on to study law under a famous jurist in Orleans. As a student, he began practicing self-mortification to discipline his will—he abstained from meat and wine, ate only bread and water during Lent and Advent, and slept on a simple straw mat.
When he completed his training in the law, he took on a role judging cases that came before the Church’s court in a nearby diocese. He used his position to protect orphans and defend the poor, and he did so with such charity and kindness that he reconciled many of those who lost their cases to his decision.
He was recalled to serve the bishop in his home diocese in Brittany, where he continued to defend the marginalized; he became known as “the poor man’s advocate.” When his clients faced charges in civil courts, he would defend them there, too, and would visit them in prison and even pay their expenses. He went to great lengths to reconcile opposing parties so that they would not argue the case in court and begin unnecessary and costly lawsuits. It was customary in his culture to offer bribes and presents to lawyers, even before engaging their representation, but Ivo never accepted these gifts.
In 1284, Ivo was ordained a priest, and three years later, he left his practice of the law to dedicate all of his energy to his parishioners. He built a hospital and worked there himself to help care for the sick. He often gave the clothes off his back to people he found on the street. Ivo once found a homeless man sleeping on his doorstep, and insisted that the man sleep in his bed inside; Ivo himself took the man’s place sleeping on the doorstep.
Ivo was a great preacher and would visit other churches to speak to congregations there. After 15 years of leading people as a priest, he died of an illness on this date in 1303. He was 50 years old.
St. Ivo is depicted in stained glass windows from the Basilica. He is also depicted with the symbol of the bread he shared with the poor in this imagery from the exterior of the Eck Hall of Law on campus.
St. Ivo, you were known as “the poor man’s advocate” and are the patron saint of lawyers—pray for us!
View a FaithND prayer card for lawyers that asks for St. Ivo's intercession here.