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)
Come, Lord, into my soul; inspire in it the strength to be your witness in the world. Show me what I must transmit to others today by the way I act, speak and think. Fill my heart with love for you, so that I may always be faithful to you, even if I encounter obstacles and trials on my path.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to Luke 12:1-7
At that time, the multitude surrounded Jesus in such great numbers that they ran over one another. Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, that is, of hypocrisy. For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing secret that will not be known. Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark shall be said in the light, and whatever you have said in a low and private voice shall be proclaimed from the housetops. I say to you, my friends: Do not fear those who kill the body and then can do no more. I will tell you whom to fear: Fear him who, after he has killed you, can cast you into the place of punishment. I tell you again, he is the one to be afraid of. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them does God forget; and as for you, every hair on your head is numbered. Fear not, therefore, for you are worth more than all the sparrows.
Word of the Lord.
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
There are two opposite attitudes when it comes to practicing our religiosity. Jesus compares them to two types of leaven that make the dough ferment in two different ways. On the one hand, “the Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast that a woman takes and puts it in three measures of flour until it all leavens.” (Mt 13, 33). In contrast, today the Lord instructs us to “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, that is, their hypocrisy.” One type of leaven hides one's identity, while the other reveals it.
The Gospel of Christ, like good leaven, is expansive. A teaspoonful causes the whole mass to fill with volume and flavor after a time. In the same way, grace enters the depths of the soul and permeates everything until it fills our life with meaning. And not only our “private” life; it changes the way we see things, the way we act in the world and the way we relate to other people.
The Word that Christ has shared with us cannot remain in the dark, in the whispers of the night and behind closed doors. We must welcome it with openness and let it “ferment” our life outwardly. Otherwise, it will ferment inwardly, creating a layer of appearances in the face of the world, but leaving us empty inside. This is precisely the leaven of hypocrisy: to appear something we are not, to force a face where our heart is not. We can then become either “facade Christians,” or “camouflaged Christians” in the forms and style of the world. Both are equally distant from what Christ came to bring.
Camouflaged Christians hide their leaven and do not show it in deeds, drowning in fear of the consequences. If we live our faith authentically, we will receive criticism and scorn; the world will hate us, just as it hated Jesus and persecutes so many Christians to this day. It is a real fear that we all feel at one time or another in our lives. That is why Christ also speaks to us of trust in God the Father.
Men can judge us, they can persecute us and even take our lives from our bodies. But for God our life is precious. Especially the life of the soul, that is, the eternal life that he promised us and that he will give us if we are faithful witnesses of his Gospel.
«When, in the Gospel, Jesus invites the disciples on mission, he does not delude them with illusions of easy success; on the contrary, he clearly warns them that the proclamation of the Kingdom of God always entails opposition. And he also uses an extreme expression: “You will be hated - hated - by all for my name's sake”. Christians love, but they are not always loved. From the beginning, Jesus confronts them with this reality: in a more or less strong way, the confession of faith takes place in a climate of hostility. Christians are therefore men and women “against the tide”. This is normal: since the world is marked by sin, which manifests itself in various forms of selfishness and injustice, those who follow Christ walk in the opposite direction. Not out of a polemical spirit, but out of fidelity to the logic of the Kingdom of God, which is a logic of hope, and is translated into a lifestyle based on the indications of Jesus».
(Catechesis of H.H. Francis, June 28, 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.
Today I will seek to share the joy of the Gospel through positive and optimistic comments.
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.
