Daily Gospel Reflection
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May 27, 2019
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.”
Today’s Gospel resonates with one of the greatest challenges I’ve faced in transitioning from Notre Dame to “the real world.” As a “cradle Catholic,” I have been with Jesus from my very beginning. Both my Catholic high school and Notre Dame provided nourishing communities of faithful friends, devoted mentors, and religious education that fueled my journey of faith. But both communities were, in a sense, Catholic cultural bubbles. At both schools being Catholic was normal. Even at Notre Dame, where there was a greater diversity of religious practice and thought, I rarely needed to explain my religious identity, even to those who weren’t Catholic.
In the three years since graduating, it has been a different story. While I still spend a good deal of time with Notre Dame Catholics, it often feels like I’m straddling two parallel tracks: my Catholic life and my life in secular culture. For the first time, I am the only one with ashes on my forehead, the one who asks to push brunch plans an hour later on Sunday, and the one justifying to HR why I believe it worthwhile to take a leave of absence to walk the Camino de Santiago.
I don’t believe my Catholic life needs to remain separate from my secular life, but merging them is still a work in progress that requires boldness. Jesus came and proclaimed the Good News. When I was in my Catholic bubbles, it was easy to believe that all was well and that Christ’s Word was prevailing in the world. Now, outside of those bubbles, it is clear that each and every one of us is called to keep God’s word alive. If we don’t testify to the truth, who will?
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
St. Augustine of Canterbury was a missionary who re-evangelized England in the late sixth century through his administrative skills and miracle-working faith.
When the Romans withdrew from England in 410, the English were left vulnerable to attacks from the Germanic Saxon tribes. The faith had come to England with the Romans, and it went underground when they left.
In 596, Pope St. Gregory the Great decided it was time to re-evangelize England, having received news that the Church would be welcomed among the kingdoms there. He sent 30 missionaries from the monastery to which he belonged, including the community leader, Augustine.
The group arrived in the north of France and was vehemently warned against crossing the channel to England because of the danger of the voyage and the savagery of the people there. Discouraged, Augustine and the group returned to Rome, but Pope Gregory sent them back.
They landed in Thanet and were received by the local king, who would be baptized and later crowned a Saint himself—St. Ethelbert. He was open to their mission, gave them the use of a local, unused church, and permitted them to teach the faith.
Their work helped the faith take root in the region, the king himself was baptized, and Augustine was raised to the position of archbishop. Ethelbert gave Augustine land in Canterbury for a church, where he built Christ Church and an abbey that now bears his name. The Church spread through England, and new dioceses were established in London and Rochester.
Augustine spent his last years consolidating the faithful communities that had been underground and administering the growing Church. Under Gregory’s guidance, he did not destroy pagan temples, but consecrated them for Christian use; and retained local customs and festivals, using them as occasions to celebrate the Christian faith instead.
His detailed correspondence with Pope Gregory described miracles worked through his intercession. Gregory warned Augustine of pride and told him to stay focused on the inward realities that the outward signs pointed to.
St. Augustine of Canterbury, you re-established the faith in England—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Augustine of Canterbury is available for use under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Last accessed March 11, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons. Modified from the original.
