January 10, 2026 // Saturday After Epiphany
Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: John 3:22-30
Reflect on the Word //
“I feel like I am going a little crazy in deciding to do all of these things,” I said to my priest friend as we chatted after daily Mass about my plans for the following year. I was beginning a new career path in the last year of my thirties by taking evening graduate classes and spending my days student teaching—all while being a wife and mom to four children—and, additionally, we had been surprised with a new baby on the way after ten years of secondary infertility.
“Maybe that is a good sign,” Father replied with a grin on his face. A good sign. Is doing the crazy thing in my own eyes and the eyes of others sometimes a good sign?
Saint John the Baptist in today’s Gospel was considered a bit crazy by the world—a man dressed in skins and living on locusts and wild honey while proclaiming the coming of the Messiah. His life was one of complete submission to God’s call. His words are a reminder of how God’s grace operates in our lives: “No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven” (John 3:27). Every call from God, every moment of our lives is a gift. The Lord offers grace, gives direction, and asks us to follow Him into the wilderness of the unknown. By trusting Him in the unknown and surrendering ourselves in love to His will, we make room for the joy of the Lord in our hearts. It may seem crazy to the world to go out of our way to go to Sunday Mass, to choose to stay at home with kids, to cut back on work to help an ailing parent, or to take on more than seems feasible. If the Lord calls us, He will provide.
Sister, the Lord wants us to give up our own will and embrace His will each day. He wants us to strive to live John’s words: “He must increase; I must decrease” (John 3:30). When we put the Lord first and trust Him enough to do what seems crazy, our joy will be complete, even if we can’t see the final outcome.
Relate to the Lord // Ask the Lord to give you the grace to put Him first, to increase your trust in Him and to transform your will to match His.
Susanna Spencer holds a master's in Theology from the Franciscan University of Steubenville and is the Devotions Editor for Blessed is She. She is a freelance writer and editor and a teacher-in-training living with her philosopher husband and four kids in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She loves reading theology, attending beautiful liturgies, cooking delicious food, and casually following baseball. She is the author of all of the Blessed is She Gospel Meditation Studies. She was narrator for Found: Advent With the Good Shepherd and Rescued: Lent With the Lamb of God and a contributing author and editor for our children’s devotional prayer book, Rise Up. She is the Theological Editor of the Blessed Conversations Studies. Find out more about her here.
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