Daily Gospel Reflection
Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.
May 7, 2021
Jesus said to his disciples:
“This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I no longer call you slaves,
because a slave does not know what his master is doing.
I have called you friends,
because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
This I command you: love one another.”
In today’s gospel, Jesus tells us that we are his friends only if we do what he commands us to do. This seems like a rather demanding form of friendship. In all of my most meaningful friendships, there has been a balance of give and take, listening and sharing, not commanding and obeying. The type of friendship that Jesus describes sounds very one sided.
But Jesus’ invitation to friendship with him has something very important in common with every good friendship I have experienced, too. Love. Yes, Jesus tells us that we must obey his command, but his central command is simply to love. Jesus isn’t interested in power over us or being controlling, like others might be in unbalanced friendships. Jesus invites us to love, teaches us to love, and commands us to love because it is the key to our relationships with each other and to our relationship with him.
It is quite extraordinary that Jesus invites us to friendship with himself. Can humans actually be friends with the Son of God? Certainly, we are not equals. But Jesus makes it clear in this reading that he does not want us to be his slaves, he wants us to be his friends. We are his friends because he tells us what he is doing and what his Father tells him. In this reading, we know that his love is bringing him to the cross. And in this Easter season, we know that love has raised him up from the dead. Love always triumphs.
Prayer
Dear Jesus, you laid down your life for us in sacrifice as our abiding friend, brother, and savior. Bless all those who have sacrificed so dearly for us. Help us all to make the world a better place by sharing the fruit of your abundant love. We entrust all we have and are to your goodness. Alleluia! Amen!
Saint of the Day
Rose Venerini followed God's voice, which was speaking to her in the circumstances of her life, and changed the lives of many people through her gifts as an educator.
She was born in 1656 in Viterbo, Italy. When she came of age, she was engaged to a young man, but he died suddenly. She decided to enter the convent, but only stayed there for a few months—her father had died, and she was needed at home to help her mother.
During this time at home, she gathered women from the neighborhood in her house to pray the rosary. She was struck by how little these women knew of their faith, so she began to instruct them. She still had hopes of entering a convent to spend her life in seclusion and prayer, but her spiritual director, who saw her work with the women in the prayer group, encouraged her to explore a vocation in the world as a teacher.
With two others, Rose opened a free school for girls in 1685, and it was a success. She quickly became known for her insights into education, and was invited by a cardinal in the area to give advice on the administration of schools in the diocese and to help train teachers.
Rose was known for her persuasive ways of speaking, and for her responsiveness to any situation. She went on to found more schools, though sometimes she faced fierce resistance. In one instance, opponents shot arrows at teachers and burned their house down. Still, she persevered with patience and trust. At the time of her death, 40 schools were under her direction.
After her death, many of the lay teachers who worked in her schools gathered into a religious community, called the Venerini sisters, who worked with Italian immigrants in the U.S.
St. Rose mentored another educational matriarch in Italy, St. Lucy Filippini, whose relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica. St. Rose was canonized in 2006.
St. Rose Venerini, you turned away both the convent and marriage to transform schools—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Rose Venerini is used with permission from Catholic Online. Last accessed March 6, 2025.