featured image

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


Reflection by Leslie Lynch

Today's Gospel: Matthew 20:17-28

In today’s Gospel, the mother of James and John asks that they sit at Jesus’s right and left in His kingdom. We know what comes next: instead of that promise, they learn that they will indeed drink from the same cup from which Jesus will drink (the cup of suffering), but the honor of sitting at His right or left is not for Him to confer. Then Jesus gathers the disciples and tells them that whoever is greatest will be servant or slave, giving their lives for others in His name.

Jesus puts the kibosh on individual ambition, especially in His name. Rather, He asks us to serve, to sacrifice, to put the needs of others ahead of ours without recompense.

This is hard.

Especially as some in today’s culture read this as subordinating and erasing ourselves.

But that is not what Jesus asks. The humility of love results in acts of service that in no way demean or diminish our individuality. In fact, just the opposite is true. God made us unique, and we reach our greatest potential when we give our gifts for the good of others without expectation of acknowledgment. Humility and love release our most authentic selves by distancing us from our self-centeredness, from our desire for praise or esteem.

As mothers, we experience a taste of this humility, love, and self-sacrifice as we birth and nurture our children.

In the workplace, humility and love are often the antithesis of climbing the corporate ladder, but servant leaders are cherished by those in their care. Even as we hone our skills, as we should, the Christ-light glowing from us is what matters to Jesus.

Let us empty ourselves of self-centeredness and seek our authentic selves in Jesus.

 

Ponder:

 

Do I trust Jesus to reveal my authentic self as I try to empty myself of self-centeredness and work for the good of others?

 

Pray:


Dearest Jesus, please help me abandon my self-centeredness and discover my authentic self, the person God created me to be. Let humility and love be the source of my service for the good of others.

 


Click to tweet:
The humility of love results in acts of service that in no way demean or diminish our individuality. Humility and love release our most authentic selves by distancing us from our self-centeredness.  #DailyGospel

Daily Gospel 2

 


Copyright 2023 Leslie Lynch

Leslie Lynch lives near Louisville, Kentucky, with her husband and a rescued, feral-turned-sweetheart cat. She’s written three full-length novels: Hijacked, Unholy Bonds, and Opal’s Jubilee; and two novellas: Christmas Hope and Christmas Grace. She is an occasional contributor to the Archdiocese of Indianapolis’s newspaper, The Criterion, and holds an MFA in Writing from Spalding University. Learn more at www.leslielynch.com.