Daily Gospel Reflection
Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.
June 15, 2026
Jesus said to his disciples:
“You have heard that it was said,
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
When someone strikes you on your right cheek,
turn the other one to him as well.
If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic,
hand him your cloak as well.
Should anyone press you into service for one mile,
go with him for two miles.
Give to the one who asks of you,
and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.”
Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner. The full readings of the day from the Lectionary are available here.
Since I was very young, a sort of egoism guised as “fairness” guided most of my decisions. For instance, whenever my brother and I were asked to clean our shared room, I would do exactly half the work and complain if I was asked to continue cleaning, if my brother hadn’t done his portion yet. In school, work, and relationships, I would do what was required of me and no more.
My actions were mostly transactional. I would give only to receive. One-for-one. At the time, “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth” actually seemed like not so bad an idea. Jesus’ words in today’s gospel still sting in that part of me that wants to hold back from doing more than I am asked.
Through ministry work with the church, marriage, and parenting, I have, little by little, started to knock down the walls of my heart that sought to give the bare minimum. I slowly recognized that true love is not transactional. It is not one-for-one. It is a call to give more than we receive, and to give to those who can never, and will never be able to pay us back.
A beautiful example of love beyond what is required is on display later in Matthew: a woman approaches Christ and pours an entire bottle of costly perfumed oil on his head. Many disciples spoke up to condemn her actions as wasteful. Christ rebukes these disciples because, as Venerable Fulton Sheen puts it, love should be wasteful.
We should all give to others abundantly, beyond what is required, even to the point of discomfort- even (and especially) when it doesn’t seem fair. Only from that vulnerable position of serving the person who can’t return the favor, the person who hates us, or the person who “doesn’t deserve it,” can we be reminded that we are the undeserving sinners for whom Christ poured out and wasted his life for us on the cross.
Prayer
Lord, please grant us the desire to want to learn how to forgive as you do. When we beg for forgiveness, you readily grant it. All is wiped clean, all is forgotten. We put our trust in your generosity. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Though she was abused during her childhood by parents who did not love her, St. Germaine found a faithful Father in heaven, and dedicated herself to growing in God’s love.
She was the daughter of Laurent Cousin, a farm worker who lived in a village near Toulouse, France in the 16th century. Her mother died when Germaine was an infant, and she grew up in poor health. Her right hand was deformed and paralyzed.
Her father remarried; neither he nor his new wife had any affection for Germaine. In fact, when they bore other children, they distanced Germaine from their family life. She was made to sleep in the stable, or under the stairs, and was only given leftover scraps of food. Other villagers followed her parents’ example and ridiculed her. As soon as she was old enough, Germaine was sent to the fields to tend sheep.
Germaine used the solitude of shepherding to pray and commune with God. She was a faithful daily communicant. It is said that if she was in the field and heard the church bells calling, she would plant her staff in the ground, ask her guardian angel to watch over the sheep, and depart for Mass; she never lost any sheep.
She had to cross a swift stream to reach the church from her field. Once, after a heavy rain, the stream was dangerously swollen, yet she had no trouble crossing—some claimed to have seen the waters part for her.
Other children began to trust her and enjoyed spending time with her, so she taught them about the faith. She shared what little food she had with the poor. One day in winter, as she was carrying her bread to share with beggars, she was chased by her step-mother, who threatened to beat her for stealing food. When she stopped Germaine and opened her apron, summer flowers fell out.
Eventually, these signs changed people’s minds about Germaine. Even her parents relented and asked her to live with them in their home, but she preferred to live as she had before. Her poor health did not improve and one morning, she was found dead upon her straw bed under the stairs; she was 22.
She was buried in the church in her village, and her body was accidently exhumed 43 years later—it had not decayed. She was reburied, and after 16 years her body was again examined and was found to be well-preserved. Her relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
St. Germaine, you were the sickly step-daughter who found holiness even though your own family treated you poorly—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Germaine is used with permission from Catholic Online. Last accessed March 11, 2025.