Daily Gospel Reflection for July 13, 2025

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

Today's Gospel: Luke 10:25-37

The scholar in today’s Gospel reading knows on an intellectual level what he must do to inherit eternal life. If getting into Heaven was determined by the score on a written exam, this guy would easily make the grade. When he presses Jesus “because he wished to justify himself,” he has to concede that living for God takes more than the right answers. 

Road Test to Eternity
This situation reminds me of the two-part driving test I took many years ago. I studied a manual and took a written test to prove I understood the rules of the road and the legal expectations of the driver. Then I took a road test to show I knew how to operate a car not only in theory but in practice—that I could put the concepts I understood intellectually into action in real time. 

“Go and Do Likewise”
One part of that driving test would not have been enough. I needed to know how to shift the car into reverse and parallel park, and I needed to know where I could park the car without having it towed. The analogy isn’t perfect, but it gets us partway there. 

Jesus’ instruction to “Go and do likewise” presumes understanding of His teachings and requires action. We need to understand the precepts of the Lord, and we need the courage and grace to put them into practice. If we don’t understand, we can’t do, and if we only understand but don’t act, we’ve missed the point.

In this season of parenthood, I tend to put too much emphasis on action. When things inevitably start to feel overwhelming, it’s because I’ve neglected prayer. With the grace of the Holy Spirit, the one can feed the other so that I can love as Christ loves.  

Ponder:

Do you tend to spend more time contemplating God or taking action? Why is that?

Pray:

Come, Holy Spirit, help me to know and love the Word of God and to let Christ live through me today.

Copyright 2025 Lindsay Schlegel