Daily Gospel Meditations - Saint John Society

What did Jesus say when He prayed? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.How would you like to summarize your life? Imagine Jesus speaking to the Father about you. What are the good things He says? What do you find most inspiring in the character of Jesus?

Signs of spiritual growth - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.Where are you in your spiritual journey? Can you identify some steps of growth you have taken? What is still lacking? Where is Jesus pointing next? Where do you get your identity from? How can you become more rooted in the Father?

The parting words of Jesus - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.What are the things you have witnessed? What is the large context of your situation in life right now? When is it that you experienced the presence of Christ in your life most clearly? What were the fruits of that closeness with God?

What we can learn from Mary's visitation - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.What doors has the Lord opened for you, so that you get to share your faith journey with others? What traits do you find especially inspiring in Mary and Elizabeth? Is there anything in their character that the Lord is encouraging you to imitate?

How to assess joy and sorrow in the spiritual life - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.What have been some movements of joy and of sadness in recent times? What is the cause of those joys and sorrows? Is there something that Jesus wants to teach you through those movements in your heart?

How can sadness become joy? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.Is Jesus inviting you to imitate some aspect of his leadership? What would be some examples in your life in which the reason for your sadness turned into joy in the Spirit?

Why does God reveal things to us gradually? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.

Moving from emotion to conviction - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.Do you remember times in your life in which you acquired more solid convictions of faith? How did that change look like? How was the before and after? Is there any similar step that the Lord may have in store for you now?

How can persecutors see themselves as true worshippers? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.Are you sensitive to the voice of the world in some area? Is there any reality of this world that at times may appear to be the highest good for you, instead of the living God? How has the Lord strengthened your faith through the witness of the Holy Spirit?

What does Jesus mean when He gives us his peace? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.Does this gospel help you discover the sign of Christ's peace in your life, as a peace that is different from the peace of the world? How is Jesus inviting you to live in his peace at this time?

Why did Jesus tell the disciples that the world would hate them? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.Why do you think you that need to hear this from Jesus today? In what ways does the voice of the world affect you? How is the Lord strengthening your faith, that you may not be overcome by the world?

Jesus calls us to friendship with him - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.How has that life of Christ been manifested in you? Which of the elements mentioned here have expressed your experience of life in Christ?

Remaining in the love we have received - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.In what ways have you experienced Christ's love? What does it mean for you to remain in that love? Have you been able to express a love that goes beyond your natural capacity for love?

Jesus is the vine, we are the branches - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.Have you seen in this time the fruits that result from being united to Christ? Has the Lord done some pruning in your life, that you may bear more fruit?

What kind of peace does Christ want for the Church? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.Can you identify moments in your life in which you lived in the peace of Christ and when you lived in the peace of the world? How were those different? What is preventing you from loving others, from following Christ's voice right now? What are the fears He wants you to overcome?

How is our relationship with Christ connected with his commandments? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.What are some steps you took in your life that enabled you to receive Christ's message? How has the thought of Christ and your love for him shaped your identity? How could it shape it even more?

How could Christ's passion glorify the Father? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.What do you find distinctive in Christ's love for us? How is He inviting you to imitate that love? Have you seen that love of Christ in you or in others shine through dark moments, as it did at the time of Judas' betrayal?

Can we know what God is like? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.What have you come to know about the Father? What gestures and words of Jesus are especially luminous to you? What does the Father want you to pray for in the heart of Christ?

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.What experiences have led you to discover Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life? How can you deepen that reliance on Christ, so as to find encouragement in him, and not just in human securities?

The spirituality of messengers - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.What situations require humility of you, so as to stay committed to your post? Is Jesus inviting you to assimilate the message you bring by taking action in some way? Why do the advantages of sending human messengers outweigh the risks? Have you seen situations in which the fragility of the vessels highlights the value of the treasure they carry?

Remaining in Christ's love and friendship - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.In what ways has Jesus manifested his love for you? What is your perception of Christ's commandments? Why is that? Is there anything that is keeping you from opening your heart to God in prayer?

Why did some not follow the Good Shepherd? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.What elements in Christ's description of his sheep do you recognize in yourself? Do you also find in yourself some of the attitudes of the authorities that Jesus confronts? How is the Lord inviting you to grow as a disciple?

Why did Jesus say that He was the gate? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.In what ways has Jesus been the gate through which you have found access to your true self, to freedom, to a higher kind of love? How is Jesus calling you to conform your thoughts and desires with his, so that you may in turn guide others?

No one can take us out of the hands of the Good Shepherd - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.In what sense are these qualities that Jesus speaks about here good news to you? Do you see these qualities reflected in your life? How is the Lord encouraging you to grow in your ability to establish profound relationships with him and with others?

Should faith always make sense? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.How has the Lord purified your faith? Is He calling you to a deeper faith in him, to trust in him, to accept his teachings? How have you handled rejection?

Why does Jesus say we cannot have life unless we eat his flesh? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.What are the hidden aspects of the Eucharist that Jesus wants you to rediscover today? What are the needs and desires in your soul that only this food can satisfy? What are the thoughts and feelings of Christ that the Holy Spirit wants you to receive? Or, to put it another way, what action or moment in the life of Christ would you like to connect with through the Eucharist?

“Mannas” that are not enough - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.What are those daily “mannas” you go for? How has the Father been drawing you to Jesus? In what ways has your relationship with Christ become life-giving?

How could the crowd not believe if they had seen? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.How has your faith grown over time? What steps of faith is the Lord inviting you to take? What do you find encouraging in Christ's faithfulness?

The life of Jesus is the bread of life - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.Was there a time in which God sustained your life, as He protected Israel in the desert? How could you grasp this idea: that Jesus has become the sustenance, the one who restores you to your true identity? What aspects of Jesus' life speak of that to you?

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 of Christ at the Sea of Tiberias - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.Can you recognize Christ in the journey of your life, and maybe in more recent events and circumstances? Imagine Jesus asks you that triple question: Do you love me? What is He expecting from you? What would you reply?

Jesus will return to us by dwelling in our souls - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.

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.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.How can you seek Christ, as Mary Magdalene did? 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. Click here for the reading of the Passion, or here for the Easter Vigil readings.

The freedom Christ manifested in his Passion - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today's readings.What are the things that threaten your freedom in Christ? What is Jesus inviting you to do, so that He can set you free?

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?