Daily Gospel Reflection for November 21, 2024

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

Reflection by Kerri Baunach

Today's Gospel: Luke 19:41-44

I love fall and the cooler weather we have at this time of year (for those of us in the northern hemisphere). Yet by November, things get dreary and the readings this month often reflect that. It is fitting that we are at the end of the liturgical year and thus we are confronted more and more with thoughts on the end times.

Today’s Gospel is no exception. Jesus foretells the destruction of the temple and the city of Jerusalem. In addition, He weeps because all could have been different if the people had only recognized Him as the Messiah.

This made me reflect on the times when I don’t recognize Jesus in my life, especially during times of difficulty or suffering. It’s so easy to see God’s hand when we have blessings to be thankful for. It’s much more difficult when we are struggling. How often in life have you found yourself struggling with some problem or suffering from sickness or caring for someone suffering and you wondered: Where is God in this?

The truth is that God is there, even when it feels like He’s not. He is there suffering right alongside us and those we love. We should remember that Jesus understands suffering. He weeps for Jerusalem in today’s Gospel. We know he weeps at other times, too, as when Lazarus dies, and, most importantly, He suffers for our sins in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. He is not a stranger to suffering.

Let’s not forget that Jesus is always with us, even in our sufferings. We should unite our sufferings with His on the cross, and, through our own sufferings, we can help Jesus to carry that cross. By our own crosses, we can recognize Jesus in our own lives.

Ponder:

How do you recognize Jesus in your everyday life, both in the blessings and the sufferings?

Pray:

Dear Lord Jesus, I pray to accept my sufferings and, through them, may I help in carrying Your cross. Assist me, Jesus, in bearing my sufferings well.

Copyright 2024 Kerri Baunach

Kerri Baunach lives in Lexington, KY, with her husband and three boys. She’s a Benedictine Oblate with the Archabbey of St. Meinrad in Indiana, attends the Traditional Latin Mass, and has written on her own, now-abandoned, blog, for Catholic Sistas, and many Gospel Reflections for Catholic Mom.