H. Francisco Posada, 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)
Lord, teach me to make you part of my life, not just as an afterthought but as the center of everything I do, say and think.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to Mark 2:18-22
At that time the disciples of John and the Pharisees were fasting. Some of them came and asked Jesus, “The disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast. Why don't yours?” Jesus answered them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. There will come a day when they will take the bridegroom away; on that day they will fast.”.
No one puts a patch of unsoaked cloth on an old cloak, because the piece pulls the cloak - the new from the old - and leaves a worse tear. No one pours new wine into old wineskins, because it bursts the wineskins, and the wine and the wineskins are lost; to new wine, new wineskins”.
Word of the Lord.
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
Jesus does not deny the necessity of fasting, as John's disciples and the Pharisees did, but he wants to teach us that all our actions must be motivated by good reasons, that the intention we have in our hearts is the first step to do something for the Lord.
Being with Christ implies sacrifice or difficulty, at least explicitly. In those moments, which in many ways are palpable in our lives, the most important thing is that we live them with Christ, becoming aware that He wants to accompany us always, in our triumphs and, above all, in our defeats.
A life with Christ is something wonderful, however, when we find ourselves in moments of happiness, success, pleasure, we easily forget to remember God or invite Jesus to be part of those happy moments, so we must become aware of the fact that Christ wants to be always part of our lives, just as He Himself gives the example of the groom who in his party is with the people he loves the most.
When we find ourselves immersed in difficult situations, we ask the Lord to help us because, with his support, we know that we can get out of any difficulty no matter how great, trusting in Christ so that He can act in our lives. And in the good moments, we should always be grateful for the grace and the countless gifts we receive. May the Blessed Virgin also accompany us in life and in death, always.
«Almsgiving, prayer and fasting bring us back to the only three realities that do not pass away. Prayer unites us again with God; charity with our neighbor; fasting with ourselves. God, our brothers and sisters, my life: these are the realities that do not end in nothing, and in which we must invest. That is where Lent invites us to look: towards the High, with prayer, which frees us from a horizontal and flat life, in which we find time for the self, but forget God. And then towards the other, with charity, which frees us from the vanity of having, of thinking that things are good if they are good for me. Finally, he invites us to look within ourselves with fasting, which frees us from attachment to things, from the worldliness that anesthetizes the heart. Prayer, charity, fasting: three investments for a treasure that never ends.»
(H.H. Francis, homily of March 6, 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.
In one of the activities I will do today, I will invite Christ to accompany me.
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.
