Angelica Roa
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)
Lord, today I come to your feet again, to open my heart to you and open myself to yours. What do you want to entrust to me today? Help me to open myself to you, to your Word, to your Mystery, with the trust of a child approaching the heart of their father or mother, because they know they are fully loved.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to John 16:20-23
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and grieve, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is in labor, she is in pain because her hour has come. But when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the distress because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. So you too are now in sorrow. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. On that day, you will not ask me anything.”.
Word of the Lord.
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
The mystery of pain and joy, of sadness and happiness... is a constant in our lives. It is not easy to travel this path, which seems so contradictory. Some rejoice, others cry. Sometimes we feel happy, at other times, heartbroken. This is our life experience.
But, upon hearing Your Word and experiencing Your Love, Lord, I feel deeply consoled. After having meditated so many times on the Cross and the Resurrection, on pain and joy, on so many things that continually oppose each other in our lives... and having encountered You in all of it, I open myself to the hope and trust that it is You who lead my life. Certainly, I do not understand it with my mind, but my heart discovers You present and I know that “it is You,” that “it is the Lord,” always by my side, guiding my life and giving meaning to all that has been lived.
Help me keep walking with my gaze fixed on you, with confidence in your infinite love, with the certainty that it is you who is always by my side, guiding me through this life towards eternal life.
I want, with my life united to yours, to be a beacon in this world that needs to discover you always present among us, guiding us toward the Father's House, with the gentle and profound action of the Holy Spirit.
«It is not Christian to walk with your gaze fixed downward, like pigs, who always walk that way, without lifting your eyes to the horizon. As if our entire path ended here, in the palm of a few meters of travel; as if there were no goal or purpose in our lives, and we were condemned to eternal wandering, with no reason for our many struggles. This is not Christian.».
(Pope Francis, catechesis of August 23, 2017).
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.
Transmit optimism, supported by hope, to the people I encounter today.
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.
