H. Vinicius Pessuti, 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)
Lord, thank you for this opportunity to be with you, give me the grace to open my heart to your Gospel and the strength to follow what you ask of me.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to Luke 11:29-32
At that time, the people crowded around Jesus, and he began to say to them, “This generation is a perverse generation. It asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. As Jonah was a sign for the inhabitants of Nineveh, so will the Son of man be for this generation. When the men of this generation are judged, the queen of the South will arise and cause them to be condemned; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and here is one who is more than Solomon. When this generation is judged, the men of Nineveh will rise up and have them condemned; for they were converted at the preaching of Jonah, and here is one who is more than Jonah.”.
Word of the Lord.
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
Jesus came into the world with the specific mission of saving humanity from the imminent destruction that sin had imposed on it, and, therefore, he is the great sign of God for us. His Word is the guarantee that we have come from God and to Him we return. However, like that generation that lived with Jesus, we are not yet aware of this truth, and sometimes we ask him for signs to believe in his Word.
Jesus is the Word of God who became flesh and came to us to direct us and teach us to assume the life of grace that was promised to us when we lost our identity with the One who created us. However, by our unbelief we are continually missing the great opportunity to take hold of the blessings that have been prepared for us. Unbelief is, therefore, a great weapon used by the enemy to weaken our faith in Jesus Christ. That is why we live asking for proofs and wanting to see signs. Sometimes, without even praying, we randomly open His Word and try to find signs according to our assumptions and interests.
The Ninevites simply repented and were converted by Jonah's preaching. They did not ask for any proof nor did they want to have visions about what was proposed to them. We have to realize that Jesus is the great sign of the Father for us and that our generation is more blessed than the generation of the Ninevites. They were converted only by listening to the preaching of Jonah, we, on the other hand, are privileged because Jesus himself, Salvation itself, came to us as Master and Redeemer and his Word is the guarantee we have that the Father forgives us and welcomes us with love and mercy in spite of our falls.
«It can happen that a strong envy for the goodness and good works of a person can lead one to accuse him falsely. And here there is a real deadly poison: the malice with which, in a premeditated way, one wants to destroy the good reputation of the other. May God deliver us from this terrible temptation! And if, on examining our conscience, we realize that this malignant weed is sprouting within us, let us go immediately to confess it in the sacrament of penance, before it develops and produces its perverse effects, which are incurable. Be vigilant, because this behavior destroys families, friendships, communities and even society.». (H.H. Francis, Angelus, June 10, 2018).
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 pray to God for my personal conversion and that of the whole world.
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.
