Guided reflection:

The previous text had John questioning the authenticity of Jesus being the Messiah. That must have made Jesus reflective about his cousin John. He stops and addresses the crowds who are comparing Jesus and John. John had strange eating habits of not drinking or eating, and they called him a demon. Jesus ate and drank with folks and they called him a glutton and a drunkard! It seemed to Jesus that the folks followed John or Him for a show....but were not interested in their lives being transformed. We sure can get distracted by our judgments, can’t we?

Guided prayer:

“Thank you, O God, for those who have been the voices in the wilderness for me… and for the Christ who shows me how to live. May my generation be willing to have ears that can hear a fresh word from you for our time in history. Amen”