Daily Gospel Reflection for March 16, 2021

Join us as we reflect, ponder, and pray together inspired by today's Gospel.

Today's Gospel: John 5:1-16

In today’s Gospel, the Jews chastise the man healed by Jesus for carrying his mat and then they persecute Jesus for healing on the Sabbath. As a teacher, I find that this story holds a personal relevance for me. In the education world, we have a lot of “rules”. Some are actual laws (HIPPA, FERPA), some are school rules, and some are just traditional rules we’ve had in our classrooms.

For example, teachers often take from students anything that might distract them in class (notes, small toys, even books that are not class assignments). Then along comes a student who has been completely unengaged in reading. Finally, a teacher introduces him to graphic novels, and the student quickly gobbles up every graphic novel he can.

Along comes another teacher who sees the student with a graphic novel and rips it out of his hand telling him not to waste his time on “comic books” and then chastises the first teacher for giving him such “frivolous” reading material. This second teacher has no idea what a miracle it was for the first teacher to get the student to read at all.

To me, this second teacher is like the Jewish leaders in this tale who chastise the man for walking with his mat. They have no appreciation of the miracle that is standing before them! They only see the rules about what is right and wrong. Likewise, they don’t appreciate what Jesus has done for this man.

What does this tell us? Perhaps when we see someone doing something we consider wrong, we need to ask them about it first. There may be a much bigger picture to what is really going on than we can see at the moment.

Ponder:

When might I have let my own ideas about rightness and wrongness keep me from seeing a miracle?

Pray:

Lord, sometimes I can’t see the miracles right before my eyes. Help me to see them as You see them.

Click to Tweet
Are we blind to the miracles right before our eyes? #dailygospel

Copyright 2021 Amy J. Cattapan