Javier Castellanos, LC
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Christ, our King.
Thy Kingdom come!
Preparatory prayer (to put me in the presence of God)
Today you come to meet me, Lord. I ask you: come in and do with me as you wish. Teach me what you want me to learn; work the miracle of changing my heart, and make it like yours. So be it.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew 13:54-58
At that time Jesus came to his own country and began to teach the people in the synagogue, so that they were all amazed and wondered, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary, and are not his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? Do not all his sisters live among us? Where then did he get all these things?” And they refused to believe in him. Then Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not despised except in his own country and in his own house.” And he did not do many miracles there, because of their unbelief.
Word of the Lord.
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
Today's Gospel has a sad tone. Jesus visits a city, but they refuse to believe in Him. They built a wall to His love, and not even miracles were possible. Christ must have withdrawn from there in disappointment. His face must have been marked by the regret of not being welcomed; He, who came to save the whole world, who came as a light for every man, is limited by human freedom.
It did not hurt Christ only to be rejected: He knew that His message would not be accepted by all. Christ was not hurt only by the lack of faith, for he also came to help us to believe. If anything truly pained Christ in the depths of his heart, it was this: those who denied him were those of “his own land”. His relatives, friends, all the people who had lived closely with Him for thirty years... They, his homeland and his home, did not want to receive their own prophet and Lord...
“A prophet is despised only in his own country and in his own house. He can only be wounded by those who hold his Heart in their hands, by those who are no longer mere strangers or servants. Friends, when they wound, wound to the core! Christ expressed this many times in the apparitions to Margaret Mary Alacoque and Sister Faustina Kowalska. What hurts him most is to be despised by the indifference or sin of his closest friends. Those who should have loved him most intensely, you and I and all of us who consider ourselves his friends!
If the tone is sad, it also calls for consolation. At least today, at least you, that friend of Christ, will be able to offer him or her some love... That is enough for Christ.
«To allow oneself to be attracted and sent by the movement of the Father's heart is to remain in that healthy tension of ashamed dignity. To allow oneself to be attracted by the center of his heart, like blood that has been soiled going to give life to the most distant members, so that the Lord may purify us and wash our feet; to allow oneself to be sent forth filled with the oxygen of the Spirit to bring life to all the members, especially the most distant, fragile and wounded.».
(Meditation of H.H. Francis, June 2, 2016).
Dialogue with Christ
This is the most important part of your prayer, prepare yourself to talk with much love with the One who loves you.
Purpose
Propose a personal one. The one that involves the most love in response to the Beloved... or, if you believe that this is what God is asking of you, live what is suggested below.
Today I will seek to comfort Christ by treating with kindness someone I find uncomfortable or unpleasant.
Farewell
We thank you, Lord, for all your benefits, you who live and reign forever and ever.
Amen.
Christ, our King!
Thy Kingdom come!
Most prudent Virgin, Mary, Mother of the Church.
Pray for us.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
