St. Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr
H. Erick Flores, 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)
Hello, Jesus. I forget everything, everything that worries me. I want to be with You, but first it is You who wants to come into my life because You know that this is my happiness. You, Father, who know me as a son in Jesus, see that I am ready to contemplate the truths that my heart seeks and which only have an answer in your Son. Holy Spirit, guide my mind and heart to find your love and your consoling strength.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to Luke 12:8-12
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, I say to you, whoever acknowledges me openly before men, the Son of man will acknowledge him openly before the angels of God; but whoever denies me before men, I will deny him before the angels of God.
Whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him.
When they bring them to the synagogues and before the judges and authorities, do not worry about how they will defend themselves or what they will say, because the Holy Spirit will teach them at that time what they should say”.
Word of the Lord.
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
As a first point, the idea of recognizing Christ. If I already recognize him, I can communicate him to others. Do you recognize him? Tell me what he is like. To give an answer of this height about the person of Jesus Christ does not come so much from the strength of man, but from the power of the grace of a loving and merciful God who wants to unveil his face to suffering humanity. For those of us who believe we are strong, he asks us to recognize him in the weakness of the flesh, and for those who feel weak, to recognize him in the strength of his word. It is not a matter of making ourselves less and small, but humble because we know how to live in truth before the person of Jesus Christ. And to live in truth also consists in recognizing Christ in the good that we have, as a gift to give freely. Therefore, Christ is not a God of the weak and forgotten. God is the God of sinners and here we are the weak and the abandoned, the powerful and the strong. Christ wants us to recognize that He came to save everyone, He came to each one.
As a second and shorter idea. In the second paragraph of the Gospel, Christ speaks of forgiveness; He forgives us if we offend Him, but there is no forgiveness if we blaspheme against the Spirit. It can help us to deepen our understanding of the importance of the Holy Spirit, the same Comforter sent by Christ, after He died. It helps us to believe that Christ restores us as true children of God through the grace that comes from the Holy Spirit and to believe in the conversion of sinners.
Let us ask God for the gift of faith to see and recognize him in me and in my brothers and sisters. And to believe that God gives us the grace to become true children of God through the Holy Spirit.
«Sometimes we feel this spiritual dryness; we need not be afraid of it. The Father takes care of us because our value is great in his eyes. The important thing is frankness, it is the courage of the testimony of faith: “to recognize Jesus before men” and to go ahead doing good. May Mary Most Holy, model of trust and abandonment in God in times of adversity and danger, help us never to give in to discouragement, but to entrust ourselves always to Him and to His grace, because God's grace is always more powerful than evil.»
(Angelus of H.H. Francis, June 21, 2020).
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 overcome my human respect and openly acknowledge that I am a Christian.
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.
