Daily Gospel Meditations - Saint John Society

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?

The revelation of a new kind of love - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today’s readings. What aspect of Christ’s love strikes you as distinctive? What aspect of Christ’s love do you feel called to imitate? How has Christ’s grace empowered your freedom? Do you see his commandments as a constraint or as a liberation?

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?

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.

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?

The vine and 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?

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?

What are these signs accompanying the proclamation about? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today’s readings. Where have you seen the changes that the proclamation of the gospel can introduce in someone’s life? What is Jesus trying to show you through the things He emphasized in this sending? What attitude does He want to form in you?

Jesus, an icon of the Father - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today’s readings. What do you learn by looking back on these words of Jesus from the perspective of the resurrection? Why do you think that only in union with Christ it’s possible to live in the light? Why can’t the light and darkness be blended? In what way is Jesus inviting you to adopt his obedience and to see it as a blessing for you?

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?

The good shepherd lays down his life for us - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today’s readings. What kind of relationships do you tend to establish with others: those of the hireling, or those of the shepherd? In what ways has Christ been your good shepherd? How does He want you to replicate toward others that sacrificial love that you see in him?

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?

Why were the disciples doubtful even after seeing the risen Christ? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today’s readings. How is the Lord strengthening you? How has He strengthened you in the past through his presence and through his word?

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. 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?

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?

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 does 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 are the signs in your life that point to the Lord’s resurrection?

The purification that the Passion operates in us - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here to go back to the reading of the Passion, or here for the Easter Vigil readings. 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 let Jesus wash you of?  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?

Was Palm Sunday just a short-lived victory? - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today’s readings. Can you picture these two crowds as Jesus enters the city? Can you see these two crowds in today’s world as well? What does it mean for you to walk with Christ, to be in the world but not of the world? In response to the voices that tell you that faith cannot do much, do you see the impact that Jesus has in your life and those around you?

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?

A deeper conversion: receiving the heart of children - Fr. Lucas Laborde. Click here for today’s readings. What do you find most striking in the freedom and identity of Christ? Does this gospel help you detect any roots of sin in your heart? What is Jesus asking you to do, so you can live in greater freedom?

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 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?