Daily Gospel Reflection for October 15, 2024

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

Today's Gospel: Luke 11:37-41

It is sad that man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. When my granddaughter Ashlyn was a toddler, she had a run-in with a bee. The bee won, stinging Ashlyn on her pretty little face. It became evident Ashlyn was allergic to bees as her face swelled up, doubling in size and distorting her once-appealing expression. It did not stop my daughter, Tarolyn, and I from our previously planned outing to the mall. Ashlyn just tagged along, quiet as a mouse.

We had forgotten about her changed appearance. The stares and comments brought us back to reality. “What is wrong with her face?” we heard. “It is the inside that counts,” was my comeback. When the shopping spree was over, Tarolyn and I had a good laugh, told the story to all we knew, and also learned a lesson.

St. Teresa had keen insight. Upon entering the Carmelite order, she saw interior problems that needed to be addressed. She was the catalyst God used to bring reform to the Church. As one of the first woman doctors of the Church, her books Interior Castle and The Way of Perfection still touch lives today.

If St. Teresa had an invitation to dine at the home of the Pharisee in today's Gospel, she would have seconded the motion made by Jesus, “to clean the inside of the cup.” I can almost hear her say, “Shame on you, full of plunder and evil. Look within yourselves. Seek to reform your heart. Give alms, and everything will be clean for you.”

The Pharisees looked at people as if through a microscope and saw every defect. St. Teresa’s heart was set on Jesus. She spoke the truth in love and looked at people through the eyes of Jesus.

Ponder:

Do you look at people with the eyes of judgment or the eyes of Jesus, who is concerned about the soul, not one’s appearance?

Pray:

Dear Jesus, help me to look at others with Your eyes. Let me be ever ready to seek reform, first in my own life and then in others. Let me do this for love of Jesus.

Daily Gospel 2