Daily Gospel Reflection for July 5, 2025

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

The Book of Ecclesiastes tells us that there is a time for everything: a time for mourning and a time for dancing, a time for joy and a time for sorrow. In today’s Gospel, Jesus is sharing a similar teaching with us.

The disciples of John the Baptist point out that they have been fasting and participating in rigorous spiritual practices. Yet when they look at the disciples of Jesus, they don’t see similar practices being enforced. Basically, what gives, Jesus?

This is one of those instances where I can see Jesus sigh, look to heaven, and then look at His followers with a mixture of compassion and “Don’t you get it yet?” Jesus asks them to consider their behavior at a wedding. Would any of them fast during the wedding celebrations? No, of course not! A wedding is a time for celebration and feasting, not fasting. While Jesus is with them, it is a time for celebration because the Messiah has come. The Kingdom is here and now.

Jesus is reminding His followers to be fully present in this moment. He alludes to the fact that in the future, things will change. Fasting will be absolutely appropriate at a later time. But that time has not come.

The same is true for our own lives. We are each living in our own present moment. For one, it might be a time for celebrating. For another, it might be a time of fasting. For yet another, a time for stretching or spiritual growth. No matter your season, Jesus is reminding us to be fully present within it. Explore it, tease out its nuances and hidden treasures, wonder about what God is teaching you in the midst of this season.

Ponder:

How can you enter more intentionally into the season God is meeting you in today?

Pray:

Dear Jesus, thank You for this present season of life. While I may not understand it fully, please help me to be fully present to You and the way You want to guide me through it.

CM DGR daily sq