Daily Gospel Reflection
Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.
May 21, 2019
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.”
My two-year-old daughter Molly’s favorite part of Mass is the Sign of Peace. Whether engrossed in her prayer cards or reading her children’s Bible, at the Sign of Peace, Molly without hesitation will extend her sometimes grubby fingers to everyone around her, shaking hands and sharing peace. Occasionally, Molly anticipates this moment in the Mass and will extend her hand even before the priest prompts us, often to the delight of those around her. Those who receive Molly’s sign of peace at Mass return the obligatory handshake with a smile.
Molly’s pure and candid outreach visibly impacts those around her in a positive way. There is nothing awkward about the encounter. Molly does not care who a person is, what they look like, or if they are trying to avoid eye contact—her sign of peace is universal. In this moment at Mass, Molly reflects Jesus’s catholic and unconditional love, which he constantly extends to all people.
Just as Molly joyfully and enthusiastically seeks communion with those around her at Mass, Jesus invites us into Holy Communion through his free, joyous offering of peace in today’s Gospel. What a gift Jesus’ peace is to us!
Jesus invites us to place our trust in God and to not be afraid. When we are faced with life’s many uncertainties, let us continually accept Jesus’ offering of peace and joy as though we were accepting the sign of peace from a child at Mass. Particularly when facing times of trial or challenge, I will remember that just as Molly extends her hand to me at Mass, Jesus similarly extends his peace and love to me today and every day.
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
Constantine was the Roman emperor famous for ending the persecution of Christians. He is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Churches, but the Roman Catholic Church honors him as an important figure in the history of the faith with the title, Constantine the Great.
Constantine ascended to power in 312 after a famous battle. Before the battle, he had a vision while marching with his army: the cross was rising from the brilliance of the sun, carrying a message that read, “With this sign, you will conquer.” That night, he had a dream in which Christ appeared to him with the same sign of the cross, and told him to make this sign into a standard for his army to follow.The sign is interpreted as two Greek letters: chi (X) and rho (P), the first two letters of the Greek spelling of Christos, transposed on top of one another. His army prevailed.
As ruler, Constantine made Christianity a free religion with the famous Edict of Milan in 312. The decree restored seized property to Christians and ceased persecutions. When the decree was opposed, he enforced it by defeating his opponents in a civil war.
Constantine was a giant during his time, overshadowing even the pope’s role in the Church. He convened the council of Nicea, governed the distribution of land for the Church, established a new capital in the Christian city of Constantinople, and began policies that Christianized the empire.
Constantine and his mother, St. Helen, traveled to Jerusalem and established many of the sites of Christian pilgrimage that Christians still visit today. Constantine is credited with finding the site of Golgotha, initiating the first building of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Helen is credited with finding the cross of Christ. The discovery of Christ's cross started an endless stream of pilgrims to Jerusalem, the distribution of pieces of the true cross to churches throughout the empire, and even our contemporary Good Friday liturgy, which is partially based on the ancient liturgies in Jerusalem celebrating Christ's cross, Christ's humble victory over death.
Constantine the Great, you who ended the persecution of Christians and beheld a saving vision of the cross—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Constantine the Great is in the public domain. Last accessed March 11, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
