Rogelio Suarez, 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)
Jesus, thank You for all that You grant me at every moment; I ask You for the grace to be more and more holy, to be able to always correspond to Your will. I believe in you, but I ask you to increase my faith; I love you, but increase my love for you every day.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew 4:18-22
Now as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, later called Peter, and Andrew, who were casting their nets into the sea, for they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed him. As he passed on, he saw two other brothers, James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were with their father in the boat mending the nets, and he called them also. And they immediately left the boat and their father and followed him.
Word of the Lord
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
Many men do not dare to let Christ into their lives because they are afraid of thinking what Christ will do with their lives. They do not dare to be impressed, they think that there will be a radical change in their lives, but no; what Christ does in the life of the one who lets him enter, is to transform it little by little; it is a transformation, not a change.
Reading this Gospel, it is very clear. He calls Peter and Andrew, who were fishermen, and he only tells them: “Come and follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”. In that call, there is no change, there is a transformation, which is like a plus in their life. It only adds something special to what they already are.
When we let Christ into our lives, He takes our clay and begins to mold it, He begins to transform what we already are into something much better. What remains on our part is to let ourselves be molded. Many times it happens that we let God into our lives, but we expect Him to mold us as we want Him to be, we do not give God freedom. And He does not resist, but He knows that what we are doing does not make us fully happy.
Let us not be afraid to let Christ into our lives and give Him full freedom to make of our poor clay the best sculpture that has ever existed.
«How does our Lord send St. Andrew and his brother Simon Peter in today's Gospel? “Follow me!” he tells them. That is what it means to be sent: to follow Christ, and not to throw ourselves ahead in our own strength. The Lord will invite some of you to follow him as priests, and thus become “fishers of men”. Others will be called to religious life, others to married life, to be loving fathers and mothers. Whatever your vocation, I exhort you: be courageous, be generous and, above all, be joyful!».
(Homily of H.H. Francis, November 30, 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.
To seek a time to be with Jesus in the Eucharist and remember all his love for me; to ask him for the grace to open my heart and give him full freedom to act.
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.
