Br. Julián Álvarez, L.C.
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)
Give me, Jesus, the grace to open my heart to listen to Your voice and to want to embrace what You want for me.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to Mark 8:34-9:1
At that time, Jesus called the crowd and his disciples together and said to them, “Whoever wishes to come with me must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.
What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, if he loses his life, and what can he give in return to regain it? If anyone will be ashamed of me and of my words before this idolatrous and sinful people, the Son of man will also be ashamed of him, when he comes with the glory of his Father among the holy angels”.
And he added: “I assure you that some of those present here will not die without first seeing that the Kingdom of God has already come with all its power”.
Word of the Lord
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
Do you like to receive? Do you like people to speak well of you? Do you like people to spend time with you? I still remember some years ago when, sitting on my bed in my room, I read this Gospel. As I read it I was filled with fear, because I knew that Jesus was literally speaking to me, asking me to leave everything and follow Him. At that time I saw only what I had to leave and did not see everything else He wanted to give me. Today, after several years, I can look back and see all that Jesus has given me... and all that is missing.
Today I ask you, what is it that Jesus asks you to give up in order to follow Him? Perhaps he is not asking you to give him your life as he did me, but perhaps there is a vice, too much work, a bad habit. Surrender it to Him and do not see only what it will cost you, but what He will give you so much more. And if He asks you to give Him your life, do not be afraid, He will give you grace!
«The human heart, often deceived, conceives the foolish project of making of life a continuous increase of spaces to deposit what it accumulates. It is a deception. It is precisely here that the question must resound: What is the use of gaining the whole world if there remains emptiness in the soul [...]?
Dear brothers and sisters, we live in a world that is caught up in the frenzy to possess and finds it difficult to walk as a community. Selfishness is always strong».»
(Homily of H.H. Francis, September 7, 2017 and Address March 16, 2019)).
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.
To think about what I can give to Jesus and, if the time is right, to give it to him.
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.
