Daily Gospel Reflection
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May 9, 2023
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.”
Preceding this passage from John, Jesus told his disciples that he will send them an Advocate. The Holy Spirit would come to teach them and remind them of all Jesus told them. Jesus was going away and would be back. He shared these comforting thoughts and told them not to worry.
Our family was blessed with two parents who lived well into their nineties. When my father was approaching his final days on earth, Mom said to me, “We know what’s coming, and we are at peace with it.”
And what was Dad’s advice? When he went into home hospice care, he told us: “I’ll do whatever you think is best, but Mom comes first.” He wanted us to make her our priority, as she was his. My dad died in 2013, and my Mom died six years later. During our parents’ final years, the nine siblings needed to make several difficult decisions about how best to care for our parents.
There were home health workers to interview and hire, physical rearrangements of the household, medicines to administer and chart, and nine unique personalities with which to contend. Some of us were local and some far away, which created different perspectives.
Not surprisingly, there were emotional family meetings and many individual discussions among the siblings. There were occasional disagreements, misunderstandings, and hurt feelings. Our hearts were troubled and afraid, but we loved each other and managed to listen and to make crucial decisions together.
Like Jesus’ gift to his disciples, our parents’ advice to us was one of peace. We did not always feel peaceful, but looking back, I can now see more clearly the Holy Spirit at work in our family. I recognize our cherished weekly sibling Zoom call as the fruit of the Advocate who Christ so freely gives to us all.
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

Though St. Anthony the Great is credited as the father of monasticism, St. Pachomius was the first to organize Christian communities around a common rule of life.
Pachomius was born in 292 in Upper Egypt, and at the age of 20 he was conscripted to the emperor’s army. He was transported down the Nile river with other recruits for training, and they traveled in terrible conditions. When they stopped at a small river town during their journey, Christians there showed them great kindness. Their charity deeply touched Pachomius.
As soon as he was able to leave the army, he made his way to a Christian church and began learning the faith as a catechumen. He was baptized and dedicated himself to finding every possible way to cooperate with the new grace he had received.
He learned of a hermit living in the desert, and he sought him out and asked to follow him. Pachomius promised the man obedience and they lived under great discipline and austerity—they ate only bread and salt, and practiced praying through the night.
Pachomius heard a call to establish a new monastery in a nearby region, and had a vision of an angel who instructed him on how to organize it (pictured here in an image from Catholic.org). In 318, he constructed a small cell there and began his work.
The first to join him there was his brother, John, and others followed. Soon more than 100 lived together. He led them mainly by example, but allowed everyone to participate in their pursuit of holiness according to their ability.
The movement grew, and he eventually founded eight other monasteries, including one for women, which included his sister. Even in the face of false accusations, he displayed heroic humility and patience, and was known for miraculous healings.
Pachomius died in 348 of a disease that killed a number of other monks. At the time of his death, some 3,000 monks were living in his monasteries. His rule of life greatly influenced St. Benedict, who formed the trunk from which most branches of monasticism grew in the west.
St. Pachomius, you pioneered a path towards holiness through the practice of community, pray for us!