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, I lack faith... to be persevering in my prayer, to love others better, to be faithful to my mission. I begin my prayer by making silence in my heart; not an empty silence, but one filled with hope as I stand before you, humbly placing myself before your presence, with the assurance that because of the great love you have for me, you will strengthen my faith.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew 17:14-20
At that time a certain man came to Jesus and said to him on his knees, "Lord, have compassion on my son, who has epilepsy and has fits; he often falls into the fire or into the water. I have brought him to your disciples, and they have not been able to cure him. Jesus answered, "You faithless and perverse people, how long shall I put up with you? Bring him to me. Jesus rebuked the demon, and he went out; and at that moment the child was cured. The disciples came to Jesus and said to him, "Why could we not cast him out? He answered them, "Because of your little faith. Truly I tell you, if your faith were as a mustard seed, you would tell that mountain to come here, and it would come. Nothing would be impossible for you.
Word of the Lord
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
“He got down on his knees.” Can you imagine a father of a family, in desperation, getting down on his knees in front of someone who is apparently a man like everyone else? What moved him to do it? Love for his son.
First he had tried the disciples, but they could not cure the boy of epileptic seizures. Then he sees the Lord, approaches and falls on his knees before Him. He has no shame. He does not care what they say about him. He seeks only the good of the one he loves.
Jesus, knowing the love that flowed from the man's heart, healed the son.
For their part, the disciples did not understand where they had failed. Jesus answered that they lacked faith. He does not say that they have no faith, but that it is still very little.
Faith, although it is a gift from God, must grow and strengthen with our collaboration. It is like going to the gym: by lifting weights again and again, our muscles develop. Faith must also be exercised, tested, nourished. If we are satisfied with the faith we had at the age of ten, when we made our first communion, it is logical that our spiritual “muscle” is rickety.
We need an adult, resistant faith, nourished with the right readings, with daily prayer, with the sacraments and with everything that helps us to strengthen it.
«The liturgy of the day presents the Gospel passage in which the disciples are unable to heal a child; Jesus himself must intervene who complains about the lack of faith of those present; and to the father of the child who asks for help he tells him that everything is possible for those who believe. Those who want to love Jesus, often do not risk too much in faith and do not entrust themselves totally to Him. But why this lack of faith? I think it is the heart, which does not open, the closed heart, the heart that wants to have everything under control. It is a heart, therefore, that does not open, that does not give control of things to Jesus, and when the disciples ask Him why they could not heal the young man, the Lord says that those kinds of demons cannot be cast out by anything except prayer. All of us have a little unbelief inside. A strong prayer is necessary, and this humble and strong prayer makes it possible for Jesus to do the miracle. The prayer to ask for a miracle, to ask for an extraordinary action, must be a prayer that involves, that involves all of us».
(Homily of Pope Francis, May 20, 2013).
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.
To pray with great faith, daily, the prayer to my guardian angel.
Farewell
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.
