Okay, so in the gospel for this Sunday, Jesus is not trying to be an economist. He’s not concerned about what happens to the S&P 500. He is not worried about how much Bitcoin to give to the poor. Jesus is talking about our sacrificial hearts. In the gospel, the rich provide some of their money, and the poor widow gives all she has. Jesus is not concerned with numbers. He’s concerned with our hearts, where we give out of sacrifice to the Lord, to our God.
We sacrifice for ourselves all the time. We sacrifice comfort when we’re at the gym, lack of sleep for Netflix, and time for our family and friends. What are we sacrificing for the Lord who sacrificed for us? So my encouragement for this Sunday and the rest of the week is: What can I sacrifice for Jesus that doesn’t have any personal motive that is for Him? This is Spirit Juice. Peace.
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Be Jesus for Others
Sometimes we imagine two extremes: people who follow rules without love, and others who talk about love without any truth or commitment. But Jesus gives us something completely different.
In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus says, “This is my commandment: love one another.” Love isn’t just a feeling we fall into, it’s something we choose. It’s active. It’s sacrificial. It’s becoming like Jesus for the people around us.
That’s the challenge of the Christian life: not just to feel love, but to live it. To choose, again and again, to be Christ for others.
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The Right Ambition
Elon Musk, Simone Biles, Dwayne ‘The Rock, Johnson, Mulan, Tony Stark. What do all of these people have in common? Ambition. They have this drive to be great. In the gospel for this Sunday, James and John, the Sons of Thunder, have ambition. All they want to do is sit on Jesus’s right and left and be the most awesome. And the crazy thing is Jesus doesn’t take that away from them. Jesus…
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Humbling Ourselves
Jesus could have entered Jerusalem on a horse, the way powerful people did. Instead, He chose a donkey.
In this Sunday’s first reading, Zechariah prophesies that the Messiah will come riding on an ass, a sign of humility, not worldly power. Jesus shows us that true authority doesn’t come from status or force. It comes from service.
That’s the heart of Christian leadership: to serve, to humble ourselves, and to love even when love is difficult. If we want to be exalted with Christ, we first have to learn how to become servants.
