Daily Gospel Reflection
Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.
September 22, 2025
Jesus said to the crowd:
“No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel
or sets it under a bed;
rather, he places it on a lampstand
so that those who enter may see the light.
For there is nothing hidden that will not become visible,
and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light.
Take care, then, how you hear.
To anyone who has, more will be given,
and from the one who has not,
even what he seems to have will be taken away.”
God sees everything. The truth is that no matter how hard we try to hide parts of ourselves, sin and virtue alike, everything will one day be revealed. While teaching 12-year-olds at Saint George’s College in Santiago, Chile, I often witnessed students hiding and revealing only parts of themselves in class.
Mateo was a particularly quiet student, shy but diligent and hard-working. One morning, I arrived early to class and noticed Mateo leaning over a classmate’s desk, pointing quietly to the homework in front of them. His classmate had struggled the day before, but Mateo—usually the quietest voice in the room—recognized his English-language skills and was exhibiting a patience I myself frequently struggled to maintain.
When he finally looked up and noticed me, he gave a shy smile, almost embarrassed to have been caught. I saw what he had kept hidden: a gentle confidence, a gift for language learning, and a desire to help others. It was a small act, and Mateo didn’t know I was watching, but that’s why the moment stuck with me.
Faith, truth, and goodness are like a light: we are not meant to hide our virtues, but let them shine so that others can see. In today’s gospel, we are encouraged to share our unique gifts with the world; in that same light, no sin nor virtue can remain hidden. As a teacher, I came to see my calling as helping students discover their gifts and learn how to share them. Mateo was proof of the power of sharing those gifts. He reminded me that even the quietest acts, unseen by most, are noticed by God, and they can shine brighter than we might realize.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, in baptism you enkindled in our hearts the light of Jesus Christ, your Son. Inflame that light in our lives that it may illumine all that we see, think, and do. May our lives shine brightly with your light, that we may bring its radiance into the lives of all we encounter. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Sts. Maurice, Exuperius, and Candidus were leaders of a legion of Christians in the Roman army who were killed for their Christian leadership and complete allegiance to Christ.
Around the year 287, the Roman army marched out to suppress a revolt in what is now Switzerland. The emperor, Maximian, led the army, which was composed of troops conscripted from various parts of the empire. One legion of 6,600 soldiers was recruited from northern Egypt and was composed entirely of Christians.
When the Roman legions arrived on the battlefield, Maximian ordered all soldiers to offer sacrifice to the gods for the success of the enterprise. The Christian legion withdrew from the army and refused to participate in the rites.
Several times, Maximian ordered them to obey. They refused, and he ordered that the other soldiers decimate the Christian legion—every tenth, randomly-selected soldier was executed. Maximian threatened to continue the decimations until the legion obeyed—he warned them he was willing to execute the entire legion.
Maurice, Exuperius, and Candidus led the legion, and they responded to Maximian by saying, “We are your soldiers, but we are also servants of the true God. We owe you military service and obedience, but we cannot renounce God who is our creator and master… We have arms in our hands, but we do not resist because we would rather die innocent than live by any sin.”
Maximian ordered the other legions to surround the Christians and kill them all. The ground was covered with bodies and blood, and the other soldiers looted what they could from the slain legion. One soldier, Victor, refused to participate in the massacre and looting. Soldiers asked him if he was Christian. When he answered that he was, he was killed as well.
A shrine was built above the ground where these brave soldiers died, and miracles began to be attributed to the intercession of these martyrs.
The traditional story of these martyrs has been scrutinized for its historical accuracy. As there is little supporting evidence for the slaughter of an entire legion of Roman soldiers, the account of the martyrdom has probably been exaggerated. What seems historically likely, however, is that a soldier named Maurice and a number of his companions were martyred in the third century. What remains unknown is the number who were killed; perhaps the story of the martyrdom of a small, brave squadron of Christian soldiers, over repeated tellings over many years, became the slaughter of a legion.
Relics of Sts. Maurice, Exuperius, Candidus, and Victor all rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica. The bust of St. Maurice pictured above stands in the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art—it is designed to be a reliquary vessel itself, although today it stands empty in the museum’s medieval gallery.
St. Maurice is patron saint of the Pontifical Swiss Guards at the Vatican, and also of soldiers, swordsmiths, and weavers.
Sts. Maurice, Exuperius, Candidus, and Victor, you faithfully led your legion to martyrdom—pray for us!
Image Credit: Italian, Reliquary Bust of Saint Maurice, ca. 1530, Gilt wood. Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame. Art Purchases Fund, 1962.030.