Daily Gospel Meditations - Saint John Society

Jesus blended thoughtfulness and sternness - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.What do you find intriguing and thought-provoking in Jesus' responses? What do those responses reveal about the mystery of the heart of Jesus? In what ways do you think that Jesus would challenge you to seek higher things?

The apparition to the disciples of Emmaus - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.What is significant to you in this passage? Why do you think Jesus wanted to appear to the disciples the way He did? What signs has He been placing on your path?

How to navigate moments of desolation? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.Does this Gospel help you discover how Christ worked through trials you've been through in recent times? What was the cause behind those challenges? Did you discover any signs of his presence during those times?

The pedagogy of desire - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.Why does the Lord want to involve his disciples in distributing his gifts? What are the natural blessings that may result from people being drawn to him? What are the higher gifts He wants us to discover through those natural blessings?

Why is Jesus a contested figure? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.Have you discovered that logic of the Trinity, so different from the logic of the world, when you entered the Body of Christ? Have you had to battle for your faith in contentious situations? What have you learned through those experiences? What steps you've taken have led you to discover that God is trustworthy?

Why is there condemnation, if God loves his creation? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.When have you experienced God's love for you most clearly? Do you believe in God's love for you and for the world? Why do you think God made such a bold and compassionate move: to manifest his love in sending us his Son? What are the implications of the way in which God guides the world, allowing humanity to judge for themselves on which side they want to be, whether in the light or in darkness?

What does Jesus mean by being born of the Spirit? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.We are contemplating the big landscape here: what life in the Spirit is and how it is nourished. As you meditate on this, you may reflect on the impact that following Christ has had on you. How would your life be different, if you hadn't been born from above? Have you experienced the signs of this new life in the Spirit? Have you noticed the effects that meditating on Scripture and receiving the Sacraments has on you?

Actual graces that lead to being born of Spirit – Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.Can you relate this to your own journey of faith? Have you seen the progression of graces that has led you to grow as a disciple of Christ? Do you find that your journey has some points of connection with Nicodemus, or with the questions he had?

What was Thomas doubting exactly? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.How do you respond to the fact that Christ places such high expectations on us? What is the mission He is entrusting you with? What are the implications of being sent as a representative of Christ in your own vocation? What would be the implications if we were never trusted with any significant mission?

Why could the disciples doubt the risen Christ? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.Do you recognize some of these perplexities and doubts in your own heart? What resonates with you in today's gospel? With which of the characters there do you identify? What step of faith is the Lord inviting you to take?

The apparition at the Lake of Tiberias - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.How does this passage remind you of what Jesus has done in your own life? What do you find especially inspiring in Christ's example of friendship? How can you imitate him in this aspect? What is the Lord telling you about how stay consistent through changes in mood?

What the resurrection accounts teach us about the dynamics of the spiritual life - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.What is significant to you in the way Jesus acted in this passage? Have you received signs from God that caused that blending of joy and shock? What changed in your spiritual life when it went from a set of practices to following a living person?

The apparition to the disciples going to Emmaus - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings. How do you relate to the particular trial of these disciples? How does this passage resonate with your own faith journey? How is the Lord encouraging you to imitate him in helping others reignite their faith?

Why did Jesus ask Mary not to hold on to him? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.The Lord is inviting us to seek Christ, as Mary Magdalene did. How can you do that? What does it mean for you to seek him? Is it possible that Christ has been showing that He is close to you in new ways, in ways that are different from what you expected?

How could they feel fear and joy at the same time? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.What has the Lord done, what has the Lord shown you, so that you can be overjoyed? What prompts you to feel fear? What do Jesus' words “do not be afraid” mean for you, in practical terms? Where are you focusing your gaze? On that which God can do even through our human frailty? Or on what the powers of this world can do?

New life in the resurrection - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.What are those glimpses that help you anticipate something of what life in the resurrection is like? What signs in your life point to the grace of the resurrection?

The purification that the Passion operates in us - Fr. Lucas Laborde.How has the Lord purified you through trials? What does He want to heal in you through this contemplation of his Passion?

A contemplation of the Passion - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.In what ways is the trial of Christ still being played out in today's world and in your soul? What is the Lord showing you about himself and about where your heart is at through this contemplation of his Passion?

The washing of the disciples' feet - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.Why do you think Jesus chose this gesture to symbolize his life? What do you need to allow Jesus to purify in you?  What is most significant to you about Christ's love? How is He asking you to imitate that love?

How could Judas betray Jesus? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.What can you learn about the dynamics of sin in the story of Judas? What did Jesus do to address those growing roots of sin? Are there any tendencies or thoughts that Jesus would want you to address in your life, so as to stop the spread of sin in your soul?

Sins of weakness vs. deliberate sins - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.What difference do you discover in this gospel between sins of weakness and deliberate sins? What strategies can you learn from Christ on how to fight these different kinds of temptation?

The anointing of Jesus in Bethany - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.Why does the Lord value actions like those of Mary? What generous gestures is the Lord inspiring you to offer him? When you feel resistance to those generous offerings, where does it come from? How can you unite your heart to the Passion of Christ in this Holy Week?

Why did Jesus enter Jerusalem as the Messiah? – Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.This day calls for a choice. Which of the two crowds are you going to join? The crowd that admires and cheers Jesus the Messiah, entering our city? Or the crowd that is wary of him, that thinks there are better solutions to our problems and more important needs than the need for God?

Reactions to the resurrection of Lazarus - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.Do you see yourself reflected in some of these reactions to the Lord's miracles? Are the voices of fear rising above other important factors in your decisions? Is there anything that God is inviting you to do to manifest his light, even when that could be met with opposition?

How Jesus confronts human hardness of heart - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.When you hear Jesus responding in this way to those who didn't trust him, can you imagine the Lord reasoning with you along similar lines? What would He say to you?

The roots of unbelief: a distorted idea of God - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.What's your experience of that life made of communion with the Father that Jesus speaks of? What are those distorted images of God that could tempt us to displace the living God from our hearts? How does the word of Christ provide a corrective for that temptation?

The mystery of God's calling and human freedom - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.What is the Lord teaching you through Mary's vocation? What aspects of your own life have you come to know through callings that came to you from outside? In which cases would the Lord want your life to be more connected to him and to others, so as to overcome individualism?

The problem of reading Jesus in a political sense - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.What do you find significant about Jesus' revelation of who He is and about his coming from the Father? What may be blocking your capacity to listen to God? How can you break free?

How could Jesus be merciful without disregarding the Law? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.In what situations is the Lord calling you to exercise this compassion? How do you balance faithfulness and mercy? Imagine you are brought before the Lord by accusers. What are the charges they could bring up? How does Jesus respond to them? What does the Lord say to you?

What is the significance of the resurrection of Lazarus? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.How would you describe the new life that shines through in the person of Jesus? What is it like to partake in that life He brings? How would you respond to the grumbling voices? What does Jesus want you to gain through purification?

The battle that rages inside the soul - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.Can you identify the voices that arise in your reason and in your sensibility in both camps, for Jesus and against him, for what He says and against what He says? How does the Holy Spirit argue with you, to bring you to side with Christ?

The attempt to explain who Jesus is in a human way - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.Are there situations now in which Jesus is inviting you to act with courage, and yet, to do so shrewdly, with a strategy in mind? What aspects of your life – or in the life of believers – do you sense can only be explained as coming from God?

Why was Joseph left in his perplexity? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.Does this passage resonate with events in your own life? Have you seen spiritual growth take place through times of uncertainty, not having the whole roadmap in your hands? Have you seen how fidelity to the light you have at a given time is rewarded by God's confirmation later on?

How can Jesus be always at work? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.How would you assess your daily activities, according to this gospel? When does your work feel alienating? And when do you sense you can do things in Christ, in keeping with your identity? To what extent are you doing things that give life to others? Are you radiating the light of Christ in the world, so that those called to belong to him may be judged worthy to inherit eternal life?

“Do you want to be well?” - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.What gifts have you received from Christ that enabled you to do better, but also led you to new responsibilities and new challenges? What are those challenges, and how are you responding to them? Have you been faithful to the salvation and the graces that the Lord has given you? Why is that faithfulness necessary to keep doing well?

The transformation of a powerful man - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.What changed this royal official? What was the inner process of coming to faith like? How did he see his own life before and after? How do you imagine his daily life being different? And how does this resonate with you? Why does Jesus want you to reflect on this today?

The light of faith as a contested gift – Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.How has faith in Christ enabled you to see yourself and the world in a different light? What are some of the dilemmas and debates in your heart that hinge upon the question of who Jesus is? What step of faith is Jesus inviting you to take?

Pride, humility, and the standard of morality - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.How does pride manifest itself in my own heart? What is the Lord inviting me to do about it? What is the standard of morality that I normally apply to myself? What is unique and inspiring in Christ's humility?

Why was the scribe asking Jesus about something he knew? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.In this meditation think of the activities and projects that occupy most of your mental time. How are those connected with love of God and love of neighbor? What would Jesus encourage you to do, so that your capacity to love God and others may grow?

How Jesus exposes the strategies of the evil one - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.Do you find in your thoughts, feelings, or reactions, any agreement with the lies and accusations of the Evil One? How could someone fall for those lies? What brings home to you the evidence of God's goodness? In what ways is Jesus asking you to side with him more clearly?

Why does Jesus say He hadn't come to abolish the Law? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.Can you verify the benefit of good rules in your own life? Are there particular areas in which you don't need many rules, because your heart has grown strong? Is the Lord encouraging you to go back to certain basic rules of Christian life?

Forgiveness as part of daily life - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.What would Jesus say to you on this topic of forgiveness? What are those daily annoyances that require you to be forgiving with those around you? What are the things on which others need to be patient with you?

Why did people of Nazareth reject Jesus? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.Could any of the difficulties the people of Nazareth experienced when it came to accepting Christ reflect your own difficulties? What do you find inspiring in Jesus' response to rejection, and what is He encouraging you to learn from him in this regard?

Encountering truth as a living Person - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.How has God shown you that deeper thirst that things of this world can't satisfy? In what ways has He challenged you to step into the light? How is an encounter with a personal truth different from finding truth as an abstract standard?

The parable of the prodigal son - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.How does the Father reason with you, response to those doubts? What does he say? How is the Lord inviting you to move from fear to love, from living like a slave, to living like a child in the house?

How could the stewards of the vineyard reject the Messiah? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.Is it a temptation for me to be territorial, to become possessive of some things, people, or tasks? Can I navigate the right balance between truly caring for those entrusted to me, without giving in to a controlling attitude? Has the Lord in some way been coming to me to ask for an account? Is He, the Son of God, my inheritance?

What was the sin of the rich man? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.How does this story help you detect the roots of sin in your own heart? How does it help you detect the ways in which sin wants to work its way into your mind, justify itself, and become a hollow identity?

Why didn't Jesus reject this ambitious request right away? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.How has Jesus redirected your own desires in the past? What ambitions would Jesus encourage in you, even when they are imperfect, and in need of purification? How would the Lord challenge you to purify your desires?

Temptations around religious authority - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.Which of these perspectives better reflects your position? What is the Lord telling you through this reading? How is He encouraging you to consistency, humility, and trust?

Unpacking the golden rule - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.In today's meditation, observe the traits of Jesus: his generosity, his patience, his disposition to forgive. And then reflect: How is the Lord encouraging you to grow in these?

The Transfiguration as an anchor of the soul - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.In what ways has God manifested himself to you, so as to strengthen your faith? Do you discover his providence, in the way He prepared you for trials? Did some blessings reach you indirectly at times, through graces God gave to others?