Daily Gospel Reflection for September 14, 2025

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

Today's Gospel: John 3:3-17

Today's Gospel contains one of the most recognized verses, but it was a completely different line that jumped off the page and grabbed my attention. The line is, “so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” It made me think of what we are lifting today.

As I was puttering around chewing on this line, I passed through the living room where my husband was flipping through sports channels and noticed he'd paused on a channel as a muscular man struggled to lift a large amount of weight above his head, held it there a second, then dropped the weight like it was on fire. I realized he'd worked years to lift that weight with confidence and strength. He received a giant trophy, which he easily hoisted above his head and held there. I thought that I'm that man and the weight I should be lifting is Jesus.

Sometimes it’s hard to lift Jesus high and keep Him there. Whether it’s the fear of being judged, challenged, or ridiculed, we sometimes keep Jesus in our heart but not lifted high for others to see. Sometimes we drop Him like those heavy weights because we feel like He’s abandoned us in our pain, sorrow, and disappointment. If we’re among others who help us grow in holiness and share our joy and love for Jesus, it’s easy to hold Jesus high and wave our hands in praise, but He's harder to hold high when we’re in the midst of darkness. I suppose the truth is, like that weightlifter, we need practice. Discipleship is a continuous exercise in lifting Jesus higher each day, lifting Him up for His light to shine in different ways and different places until it becomes a common practice. Ready, set, lift and grow those muscles!

Ponder:

Where is it easy to lift Jesus high? Where do we struggle to lift Jesus for all to see? Make a plan to do three things this week to lift Him up for others to see. Maybe it's something as simple as wearing a crucifix, a faith message t-shirt, or putting a faith symbol on our car's rear window.