Daily Gospel Reflection for November 3, 2025

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

Today's Gospel: Luke 14:12-14

In today's Gospel, Jesus has been invited to dine at the home of a leading Pharisee. While He is there, He notices how the guests are trying to seat themselves in places of honor so they will be treated well and receive the best. He reminds them, and us, to turn from seeking self-glory and attend instead to those who have nothing, to those who are powerless and vulnerable, "the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind."  Jesus even goes so far as to say that we should be careful of associating only with those who can return our hospitality, those who can return like for like, as equals. 

Jesus wants us to understand that, standing before God, none of us are self-sufficient. Just like the poor, the blind, the crippled, and the lame rely on their community for their very survival, we also rely entirely on God. 
 
The saint whose feast day we celebrate today, St. Martin de Porres, is a perfect example of this. He himself was rejected as an outcast. Not only did his own father abandon him, but St. Martin also endured prejudice because he was biracial. But instead of seeking a higher place, St. Martin embraced a life of service through performing menial chores, constantly seeking the humblest places and the lowest tasks, even earning for himself the nickname the “saint of the broom.” St. Martin believed that no job was too small to be transformed into a prayer and offered to God. Let us pray, with St. Martin, for the grace to take the lower seats and do each small task with great love.

Ponder:

Do I have a habit of seeking or desiring the places of honor? How can I imitate the humility of Jesus and St. Martin de Porres?

Pray:

Dear Jesus, help us to realize how much we rely on God. St. Martin de Porres, pray for us, that we, too, may turn every small task into a prayer and an offering.

Copyright 2025 Sarah Pedrozo