First Reading: (Acts 14:5–18)
Responsorial Psalm: (Psalm 115)
Response: Not to us, O Lord, but to your name give the glory.
Alleluia:
Alleluia, alleluia.
The Holy Spirit will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.
Alleluia.
Gospel: (John 14:21–26)
Reflection:
Today’s readings confront one of the most subtle dangers in life: pride in our own gifts.
Paul heals a crippled man, an undeniable miracle. Yet when the crowd tries to worship him, he refuses immediately. He does not entertain the praise, does not redirect it halfway, he completely rejects it.
He understands something essential:
What God does through you must never be mistaken as coming from you.
This is where many fall.
We are gifted, intellect, skill, talent, influence. These are real. But the danger is not in having gifts; it is in claiming ownership of what was only entrusted to us.
Pride often disguises itself subtly:
“I worked hard for this.”
“I earned this recognition.”
“I’m just better at this than others.”
But the truth remains:
Without God, the gift has no life.
The apostles show the correct posture:
They redirect attention immediately
They refuse false elevation
They point everything back to God
This is the meaning of the Psalm:
Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give the glory.
“Thank God.”
Because the moment we take the glory, we open the door to the very fall we don’t see coming.
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