A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John 13:16-20
(Glory to you O Lord!)
When Jesus had washed the disciples’ feet, he said to them:
“Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master
nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him.
If you understand this, blessed are you if you do it.
I am not speaking of all of you.
I know those whom I have chosen.
But so that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
The one who ate my food has raised his heel against me.
From now on I am telling you before it happens,
so that when it happens you may believe that I AM.
Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send
receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”
(The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ!)
Reflection: Do we follow Jesus?
In today’s Gospel reading, Our Lord Jesus had just completed washing the feet of the disciples to give them a model for us to follow, a model of humility and love. Jesus was encouraging the disciples to set aside their prides, their egos, to follow His example.
Our Lord Jesus also taught the disciples and teaches all of us that “no slave is greater than his master, nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him”. What does this mean?
Our Master and model of love is our Lord Jesus, and He dwells in the hearts of the faithful to show us the way of love through His Spirit, and He send us out into the world to share of His great example of humility, kindness, justice, righteousness, and love to all, to share the joy of the peace of His presence with us, until He calls us all one day to be reunited with all the faithful in His Kingdom.
The question is do we seek and follow Jesus? Do we recognize His presence with us when we drive, as we walk, or eat, take a shower, when we are at work, or at school, with our families, or when we are with others?
Do we actively seek Him, to seek His counsel before we act, or react and make decisions and do things in our daily life, or do we just follow our own whims, our egos, our wishes and our pride when we make decisions? Do we find ourselves reacting to situations and challenges in life, or do we first seek our Lord’s wisdom in prayer so that we can give a chance for His Spirit to help us respond in humility, gentleness and love?
I know it is a challenge to go against the desires of our egos, our wants, our passions and our desires. That is why our Lord Jesus is journeying with us. We are not perfect yet while we are on earth as we face daily challenges in life, but we can overcome our selfishness, passions and wants by seeking God first, to follow Jesus’ promptings, to choose to respond rather than react… to respond with goodness, kindness and love, to experience the joy that God’s presence gives us.
We are never alone. God is always with us. We have a God of great mercy and He forgives all who seek His counsel in humility. May we always decide to choose to follow Jesus, as He is always there to help guide us. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is our model of what love truly is. May we all follow the daily promptings of Jesus, our Lord, Master from within our minds and hearts!
Action for the Day:
Make an active decision to be aware of God’s presence with us. In silent prayer, or while praying with two or more, ask our Lord Jesus to help us with all our decisions in life. Lord Jesus, you are our Savior and our Master. We are nothing without you. Help us to always be aware of your presence. Help us to seek your grace and guidance at every moment of our lives, to choose ways of holiness and to see you in every person that we meet.
DEACON5 website link: https://deacon5.com/
Click link below to listen to today’s reflection.
