Jesus Salazar, 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)
Help me, Lord, that my true treasure may be only You.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew 6:19-23
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy them, where thieves break through walls and steal them. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys them, nor thieves break through walls and steal them; for where your treasure is, there your heart is also. Your eyes are the light of your body; so that if your eyes are sound, your whole body will have light. But if your eyes are sick, your whole body will have darkness. And if what in you should be light, is but darkness, how black will not your own darkness be!”
Word of the Lord.
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
The Gospel we meditate on today alerts us to stop and ask ourselves: Where is our treasure?
God blesses us abundantly with very good treasures: in youth he gives us energy, freedom, new projects, opportunities, life options; in maturity he can give us stability of life, work, to have our own family, a happy marriage; in old age to be able to see the fruits of our life, the affection of our family. Who would doubt that these treasures are enormous? Even the crosses and moments of difficulty are also magnificent treasures because they allow us to participate in the sacrifice of Jesus. But something is missing, if our treasure does not have God at the center, it is rusty.
Christ invites us to be ambitious spiritually speaking, to invest in heaven. We start doing that here and now by seeking to have a closer and deeper relationship with God, not out of interest, but out of love. A person who has this daily encounter with God changes without realizing it and changes those around him with his positive spirit and full of charity. Living this closeness with God allows us to live a piece of heaven on earth. This is not something abstract or difficult to understand, whoever seeks God is noticed; that is the light in the eyes of which the Gospel speaks to us. The best thing about this friendship is that Christ comes to our aid even when we are weak. Who said that it is impossible to be a saint in this world?
«We can ask ourselves: where is my heart? Jesus said: your treasure is where your heart is. What is my treasure? Is it Jesus and his doctrine? Is the heart good or is the treasure something else? Therefore it is the heart that has to be purified and converted. Without a purified heart, one can never have truly clean hands and lips that speak sincere words of love, mercy and forgiveness».
(Homily of H.H. Francis, August 30, 2015).
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.
I will take a short time to make an examination of conscience to reflect on what I have in my heart that does not allow me to have a deeper relationship with God.
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.
