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, help me to understand the reasons of my heart because I know that You can speak to me heart to heart. I ask for the grace to continue to contemplate your human and divine heart that loves me with infinite love.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to Luke 2, 41-52
Jesus“ parents used to go to Jerusalem every year for the Passover festivities. When the child was twelve years old, they went to the feast, according to custom. When those days were past, they returned; but the child Jesus remained in Jerusalem, unbeknownst to his parents. Believing that he was in the caravan, they went a day's journey; then they looked for him, and not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem in search of him. On the third day they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, listening to them and asking them questions. All who heard him were amazed at his intelligence and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, ”My son, why have you been like this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you in anguish“. And he said to them, ”Why have you been looking for me, do you not know that I must be about my Father's business? They did not understand the answer he gave them. Then he returned with them to Nazareth and remained subject to their authority. His mother kept all those things in her heart. And Jesus was growing in wisdom, and in stature, and in favor with God and man.
Word of the Lord
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
A mother's heart is torn when she knows that one of her children is lost. I imagine this was Mary's feeling when she realized she didn't know where her beloved son was. It is in difficult times, in this case the loss of a child, that we can see how much we love the things we have. His parents feel their world crumbling. Surely when they find him they go straight to hug him and tell him how much they looked for him, how much they missed him, that they never want to lose him again; thus they recognize that their son is the greatest treasure they have.
Another type of child loss is when a child goes astray. This can happen very often and even in very good families. The first thing that comes to mind are the words that St. Ambrose addressed to St. Augustine's mother: «A child of so many tears cannot be lost», because the first attitude that parents should have is to pray for their children so that they can get back on the right path which, after all, is for their own good, but clearly it is not easy and it will take many prayers and tears until God can touch their hearts.
«His mother kept all those things in her heart». In our hearts we have so many things that have happened to us and that, in one way or another, have left their mark. Praying before the Lord is a special moment to open our hearts to Him and tell Him about the things we have kept, especially those that are most painful. I imagine Mary doing this every day, and not only of the extraordinary things, but also of her daily life with Jesus and Joseph.
«Our Lady never asked anything for herself, never. Yes, for others: let us think of Cana, when she went to speak to Jesus. She never said: “I am the mother, look at me: I will be the queen mother”. She never said it. She did not ask for something important for herself, in the apostolic college. She only accepted to be a mother. She accompanied Jesus as a disciple, because the Gospel shows that she followed Jesus: with her friends, pious women, she followed Jesus, she listened to Jesus. Once someone recognized her: “Ah, there is your mother”, “Your mother is here”... She followed Jesus. All the way to Calvary. And there, standing there... the people surely said: “Poor woman, what he suffers”, and the bad ones surely said: “She is also to blame, because if she had educated him well this would not have ended like this”. There she was, with the Son, with the humiliation of the Son. Honor the Virgin and say: “This is my Mother”, because she is the Mother. And this is the title she received from Jesus, right there, at the moment of the Cross».
(Homily of Pope Francis, April 3, 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.
Pray the rosary for the children who suffer in the world, who are orphaned, mistreated and do not feel loved.
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.
