Daily Reflection for Thursday, May 12, 2022
Peace and Blessings, Friends and Parishioners!
We encourage you to reflect on Thursday’s readings at this link:
Thursday of the Fourth Week of Easter | USCCB
If you prefer to use your own Bible, the readings are:
First Reading: Acts 13:13-25
Responsorial: Psalm 89:2-3, 21-22, 25 and 27
Gospel: John 13:16-20
Our reflection on Thursday’s readings:
From now on I am telling you before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe that I AM. John 13:19
Predictability, especially the predictability of poor choices, has been on my mind lately.
I am of an age where evenings are spent tracking homework assignments with my kids. Having worn this hat for a while one might think that I’d be more successful in anticipating (and then seeking to avoid) my disappointingly predictable reaction of frustration when homework progression leaves much to be desired. Even when I am actively engaged and determined to respond differently, I find it all too easy to fall into my familiar (predictable) ill-suited reactions.
This thread of poor choice predictability often reaches further than we’d like it to. Our responses to Covid-framed conversations are predictable. Disproportionately negative reactions to co-workers and spouses and family and political issues and the abortion debate and the environment and on and on – are all often largely predictable.
Perhaps this is why the Gospel reading for today stuck with me as did Jesus’ master/slave correction and His prognosis for the future behavior of the twelve. Today, I’m feeling grateful that Jesus’ response (then and now) to His disciples’ behavior is also predictable. He knows our tendencies. He knows our weaknesses. He invites us to make different ones but always allows us the free will to make the choices we will make – and he loves us without conditions, never ceasing to lovingly welcome us back anytime we stray from His example. Every. Single. Time.
What negative response of yours do you wish were not so predictable?
Rafael Rosario