Balam Loza, 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, what do you want from me? I place myself in your hands. You know my heart well, you know that I want to follow you, you know that I want to be your friend. That is why I ask you to show me the path I must follow. Be my guide. Do not let me go down other paths, and if one day I get lost, go and look for me. Jesus, my friend, I want at this moment to listen to your voice that invites me to follow you on a very particular path.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to Luke 6:12-19
In those days Jesus withdrew to the mountain to pray and spent the night in prayer with God. When it was daylight, he called his disciples, chose twelve from among them and named them apostles. They were Simon, whom he called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Simon, called the Phanatic; Judas, the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who was the betrayer. As he came down from the mountain with his disciples and his apostles, he stopped on a plain. Many people were there, who had come both from Judea and Jerusalem, and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities; and those who were tormented by unclean spirits were healed. All the people sought to touch him, for a power came out of him that healed them all.
Word of the Lord.
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
Each of the apostles was called by Jesus. And this call was personal. He did not call them at random but he thought of each one, each apostle was thought for a very specific mission. And each one was given the opportunity to answer yes or no to the call. To that call to be with Jesus, to that invitation to take up a cross and carry it with Jesus. How different, for example, was the mission of St. Peter from that of St. John.
Each of the apostles experienced their weakness, lack of decision, discouragement. And the apostles had moments when they looked back. When, tired, they longed for their boats, their lake... But they left everything. They placed their dreams and their illusions in the Lord's hands. They detached themselves from everything that prevented them from following Jesus.
And today each one of us has a very particular and personal call. It calls me to leave everything. This is not easy. The Lord knows this well, so he does not force me, he does not force me to say yes. He wants me to give it freely, but I have to give it with all my heart. And sometimes, along this path, one can feel discouragement, weariness, the desire to turn back. One's own weakness and frailty will be touched. Then one can go forward or one can turn back as did that rich young man whom the Lord loved.
«We all have limitations, none of us can reproduce Jesus Christ in his totality, and although each vocation is configured mainly with some features of the life and work of Jesus, there are some common and unrenounceable ones. We have just praised the Lord because “he did not flaunt his God-ness” and that is a characteristic of every Christian vocation, “he did not flaunt his God-ness”. He who is called by God does not strut about, he does not chase after recognition or passistic applause, he does not feel that he has risen in stature, nor does he treat others as if he were on a higher rung».
(Homily of H.H. Francis, July 11, 2015).
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.
Lord, today I will stop by the parish and pray for vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life. I will pray for all religious, seminarians and priests so that You will give them strength on their way. I will also pray for those who feel the Lord's call to a more dedicated life so that they may have the generosity to take the step.
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.
