Daily Gospel Reflection
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October 10, 2025
When Jesus had driven out a demon, some of the crowd said:
“By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons,
he drives out demons.”
Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven.
But he knew their thoughts and said to them,
“Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste
and house will fall against house.
And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?
For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons.
If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul,
by whom do your own people drive them out?
Therefore they will be your judges.
But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons,
then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.
When a strong man fully armed guards his palace,
his possessions are safe.
But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him,
he takes away the armor on which he relied
and distributes the spoils.
Whoever is not with me is against me,
and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
“When an unclean spirit goes out of someone,
it roams through arid regions searching for rest
but, finding none, it says,
‘I shall return to my home from which I came.’
But upon returning, it finds it swept clean and put in order.
Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits
more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there,
and the last condition of that man is worse than the first.”
The kingdom of God has come upon us, and God has overcome evil. These are simple yet incredibly mysterious truths we profess as Christians. How is it that, amidst all of the suffering and darkness we see in the world today, we can say that God’s kingdom is amongst us? How can we say that evil has no real power over good?
For the past nine months, I have been living in Peru as a missionary volunteer. I live in a neighborhood of extreme poverty along with other missionaries from around the world. One of the main pillars of our life on mission is compassion, or “suffering-with.”
Just like our Blessed Mother did at the foot of the cross, we are constantly faced with the deep suffering of our neighborhood friends. More significantly, we are regularly left helpless in the face of their open wounds, like Gerard, our neighbor, a 12-year-old boy who stopped going to school and has no one looking out for him.
There are many moments when I sit in adoration before Jesus, with our friends in mind, asking the same difficult questions about suffering and evil. Although this answer is not something our limited human nature can fully grasp yet, I have begun to understand that God, who loves us more than we can imagine and became man in Jesus, taking all of our sins upon himself, and dying for us, has truly defeated evil. God Incarnate wants to work through us to show Gerard how much the Father loves him.
We will not fully understand that mystery on this side of eternity and will not be able to explain it perfectly to others, but by living out this compassion, the one who is love can shine light to those in darkness.
Prayer
Lord, on our own we simply do not have the conviction to side-step the negativity that darkens our path. Give us the grace to move through our obstacles with confidence, protection, and generosity. Wherever we are, there is your assurance. Where we fear, there is your light. And where we fall, there is your hand ready to assist. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Francis Borgia was a member of the ruling elite of Spain, and when he became a Jesuit priest, he used his experience as a governor to spread the work of the Jesuits around the world; he became known as their second founder, after the great St. Ignatius.
He was born in 1510 in Spain,the great-grandson of a pope and a king, and cousin to the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the time. After completing his education, he lived in the Spanish court, where one day he happened to see a man being taken into prison by the Spanish Inquisition. The man was St. Ignatius of Loyola, and he was being questioned about his new movement.
Francis married and raised a family and was assigned duties as a governor of Catalonia. He tended to the affairs of the state with diligence, but also began to give more and more time and energy to prayer; he received communion as often as he could.
After 17 years of marriage, Francis’ wife, Eleanor, died, leaving him with eight children, the youngest of whom was 8 years old. The death of his wife spurred him to follow the calling he had been discerning to give his life to God. He recalled the man he had seen imprisoned, and vowed to join his Society of Jesus. Ignatius received the news with joy, but advised him to finish raising his children first, and to bring his executive business to a close.
After several years, having settled his children, Francis joined Ignatius in Rome and became a Jesuit at the age of 40. During his formation, his superiors made a point to treat him opposite to what he was used to—they made him clean the kitchen and serve food and mop floors. He returned to Spain, and was ordained a priest. News of the duke who turned into a Jesuit made a sensation, and people crowded to his Masses.
He began to preach in Spain and Portugal, carrying a bell and calling children to the town square wherever he was to teach them the faith. His words encouraged many to reform their lives and their businesses, and he was one of the first to meet and encourage the great St. Teresa of Avila.
St. Ignatius placed Francis in charge of the Jesuit order in Spain, where he founded new communities and colleges. He was later called back to Rome to assist the growing community from there, and has been called the second founder of the Jesuits for his influence in shaping the new order. Even though it is credited to the pope, it was Francis Borgia who really founded the famous Gregorian University in Rome.
His previous life as a governor gave him skills that he used to establish and promote the work of the Jesuits around the world. In all of this logistical work, however, he was never distracted from his life of prayer and faithfulness—those always remained central to him. He sought after humility with diligence—many knew him as a royal personage, and tried to show him deference, but he insisted on being treated according to his state of life as a priest.
Worn out by his work and travels, he died in 1572. His relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica, and the image below was created by Matthew Alderman '06 and is used here with his permission. It shows St. Ignatius in the center, flanked by St. Francis Xavier on the left and St. Francis Borgia on the right.
St. Francis Borgia, you were the duke and father of 8 children who became a Jesuit—pray for us!
Image Credit: (1) Our featured image of St. Francis Borgia is in the public domain. Last accessed October 3, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons. (2) Notre Dame alumnus Matthew Alderman holds exclusive rights to the further distribution and publication of his art. Used here with permission.
