Daily Gospel Reflection for May 4, 2023

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

Today's Gospel: John 13:16-20

Jesus tells us who He is “I AM.” The same words were used in Exodus 3:14 and the people whom Jesus was talking to knew those scriptures. Jesus tells us who He is because He wants us to know. There does not need to be confusion over His identity. And when we know that Jesus is Jesus, that is, the person He says He is, we can trust and follow Him.

And how are we to follow Him? By not thinking we are greater than our master. By serving. Jesus then says,

“If you understand this, blessed are you if you do it.”

This is our reminder that our faith cannot be all in our heads. It needs to move into our souls and into our daily life. Knowledge is important, but a lived faith is what Jesus asks of us. If we do it, Jesus says, we will be blessed. I’d like to be blessed. I come now to this question: Does the blessedness come from Jesus or from the act of doing what Jesus asks?

When I think it is difficult to follow Jesus, I have most likely succumbed to the world’s way of thinking that I am owed something or better than someone else or frustrated that the situation is not playing out my way. There are times when it is easy to be overcome by those thoughts and fall into anger or despair. Those are the times when pulling away for a few minutes, pausing before I open my mouth, and remembering who I am – someone who understands and is blessed – makes all the difference in what happens next.

When we do that, we understand and live as Jesus calls each one of us.

Ponder:

When is it most difficult for you to follow Jesus’s call to serve? What can you do to change that difficulty?

Pray:

Lord Jesus, You showed us what it means to serve. Help me to do the same as I go through my day.

Click to tweet:
How are we to follow Jesus? #DailyGospel

Copyright 2023 Deanna Bartalini