Daily Gospel Reflection
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May 29, 2019
Jesus said to his disciples:
“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.
But when he comes, the Spirit of truth,
he will guide you to all truth.
He will not speak on his own,
but he will speak what he hears,
and will declare to you the things that are coming.
He will glorify me,
because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.
Everything that the Father has is mine;
for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine
and declare it to you.”
Christ’s words to his disciples during this farewell discourse at the end of his ministry remind us that we cannot fully bear the weight of everything he wants to express to us. Sometimes I wish Jesus wouldn’t tell us what we can’t bear because it seems I’m always running into things I can’t handle.
So much of my daily life is outside my control: the poor health of family members that I am helpless to improve, large political changes that affect human life, personal heartbreak, failure and pain. Within my heart, my struggle against sin often seems too heavy to carry. I can’t bear it all. My human frailty is a reality I am faced with every day.
But Christ is aware of our weakness. Indeed, our creator knows us well. He wrapped himself in our frail flesh and walked among us to show us that even in this frailty, even though so much is out of our control and outside of our influence, we can be strong in him. In his promise to send his Spirit, we find the profound hope that makes us Christian. This hope means that when we run into things we can’t handle, we are not alone in our weakness.
A great strength is with us, a strength we can rest on, a strength that will bear us up despite what we ourselves can’t bear. All we need to do, then, is reach out to accept this strength with gratitude, letting it lift our hearts out of helplessness and into peace.
Prayer
Loving God, Christ promised his disciples the gift of the Spirit who would guide them to all truth. In these often confusing and difficult times, many “truths” are spoken. Open us up to the gifts of your Spirit to be able to discern your truth so that we may more faithfully speak it to others and embrace it more fully in our own lives. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Blessed Joseph Gérard was a French priest and missionary.
Joseph was born in northern France in 1831, the eldest of five children. His parents, Jean and Ursule, ran a farm, and he helped them run it throughout his childhood. Joseph received religious instruction from the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, an order of priests that had originated in France. He joined the order in May of 1851, just after his twentieth birthday.
He was sent to South Africa to complete his theological training in 1853 and was assigned a pastoral placement there after diaconate ordination. Joseph never again returned to France.
Joseph was very skilled at learning languages and quickly picked up the native Zulu and Sesotho tongues. Joseph was ordained in 1854 and began work among the Zulu people. In 1862, a local bishop asked Joseph to join in his mission in Lesotho, the landlocked country within South Africa. Joseph worked with the Basotho King to establish the first Catholic mission with the royal cooperation.
Joseph worked to bring the Gospel to and minister to the Basotho people until he died in 1914. Pope John Paul II beatified Joseph in 1988, on his papal visit to Lesotho. Joseph is one of the patron intercessors for missionaries.
Blessed Joseph Gérard, loving missionary for Christ's Gospel—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of Bl. Joseph Gérard is used with permission from Catholic Online. Last accessed February 13, 2025.