Javier Castellanos, 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 Jesus, open our understanding and explain the Scriptures to us. Make our hearts burn as you speak to us.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to Luke 24:35-48
When the two disciples returned from Emmaus and came to the place where the apostles were gathered, they told them what had happened to them on the road and how they had recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread. While they were talking about these things, Jesus appeared in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were bewildered and filled with fear, and thought they saw a ghost. But he said to them, “Do not be afraid; it is I. Why are you frightened? Why do doubts arise within you? Look at my hands and my feet. It is me in person. Touch me and be convinced: a ghost has neither flesh nor bones, as you see that I have.” And he showed them his hands and feet. But as they were still in disbelief from sheer joy and astonishment, he said to them, “Do you have anything to eat here?” They offered him a piece of broiled fish; he took it and began to eat before them. Then he said to them, “What has come to pass is what I spoke to you about while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures and said to them, “It is written that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and that in his name the need to turn to God for forgiveness of sins must be preached to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of this.
Word of the Lord.
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
What would we do if at this very moment we saw Jesus in front of us? Let us imagine hearing footsteps nearby and, on raising our heads, we find the face we so longed to see... This was the experience of the apostles in the Upper Room.
In this prayer we have Christ at our side, truly! Today he addresses to us the same words of the Gospel: “Do not be afraid, it is I. Why are you afraid? Why do doubts arise within you? It is I in person. We do not see him, because he wants us to know him by faith: ”Blessed are those who believe without seeing“ (Jn 20:29).
Christ brings peace, but first he had to pass through the cross. And precisely thanks to the cross we have him closer than ever. Because the cross he took up was our cross, the weight and suffering we feel every day, the work and trials of today, this is what Christ carries in his wounds. Every time we touch our cross we touch Christ, so real is his company!
Moreover, Christ is within us, and within every brother and sister at our side. The presence of Jesus is as real as the face of our neighbor, because if someone ”does not love his brother whom he sees, he cannot love God whom he does not see” (1 Jn 4:20). And he asks us to find him there, in authentic love for others and in the preaching of his Gospel through our lifestyle... That is how real our love for him must be.
“No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God is among us and his love has come to its fullness in us.” (1 Jn 4:12).
«When man hits rock bottom in his experience of failure and inadequacy, when he sheds the illusion of being the best, of being self-sufficient, of being the center of the world, God reaches out to him to transform his night into dawn, his affliction into joy, his death into resurrection, his return journey into a return to Jerusalem, that is, into a return to life and to the victory of the Cross. The two disciples, in fact, after having met the Risen One, return full of joy, confidence and enthusiasm, ready to bear witness. The Risen One has made them rise from the tomb of their unbelief and affliction. In encountering the Crucified-Risen One they have found the explanation and fulfillment of the Scriptures, the Law and the Prophets; they have found the meaning of the apparent defeat of the Cross».
(Homily of H.H. Francis, April 29, 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.
Today I will seek to love with positive words and comments towards others.
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.
