Br. Jorge Alberto Leaños García, 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)
Lord Jesus, I am in front of You, next to your mother, our mother. Today is her day and, therefore, I pray for her and for all the mothers of the world so that they may know how to transmit the gift of life. I also ask You to help me to understand and appreciate the depth and importance of their mission, for they have been chosen by our Father to collaborate in the miracle of life.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to John 14:1-12
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not lose your peace. If you believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house there are many rooms. If it were not so, I would have told you, for now I am going to prepare a place for you. When I have gone and prepared a place for you, I will come back and take you with me, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to get to the place where I am going”.
Then Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus answered him, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you know my Father. From now on you know him and have seen him”.
Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that is enough for us”. Jesus replied, “Philip, I have been with you so long, and yet you do not know me? Whoever sees me sees the Father, so why do you say, ‘Show us the Father,’ or do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you, I do not say on my own. It is the Father, who abides in me, who does the works. Believe me: I am in the Father and the Father is in me. If you do not give faith to me, believe it by works. I tell you the truth, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do and will do even greater works, because I am going to the Father”.
Word of the Lord.
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
The way, the truth and the life.
Only the one who transmits life can be called father or mother. Life is precisely the most valuable gift that a person can receive, because it marks the beginning of a soul that projects a future towards heaven. It is God Himself who provokes our first sigh, our first heartbeat; He calls us to life, but He does it through a person, this person is chosen to carry out the desire to give birth.
Giving life is the first step of motherhood, God is the first to pronounce our name and He does it through our mother. This is why a mother is a collaborator of his miracles. A mother finds the need to give herself unreservedly to the degree of no longer living for herself; but living in, living with, living for her child. This is not a tendency or a feeling that arises from every mother, but finds its source in God himself who, in the same way, lives for the whole of humanity. A mother, in imitation of the Father, feels the need to accompany, console and feel what her child feels, even to live what her child lives.
A mother's love can be so beautiful, so delicate and at the same time so strong, so simple and profound... a mother's love is so pure that God himself wanted to have a mother... Mary. She selflessly gave her life to Christ, especially from the Annunciation until the Cross. And from the cross, Mary continued to give herself unreservedly to every man and woman.
When a mother gives birth she creates a strong relationship with her child. This relationship gives rise to a unity that we call «family». Well, Mary has given birth to Christ, her son, and Christ has given us Mary as our mother. Therefore we belong to the same family, having Christ as our brother, and God as our Father. We all have a Father... we all have a Brother, because we are members of the same family thanks to the woman who accepted to be the mother of God. Mary. There we will find peace, the way, the truth and the life.
Happy Mother's Day! For those who have this celebration on this day.
«In today's fragmented life, where we run the risk of losing the thread, the embrace of the Mother is essential. There is so much dispersion and loneliness around us, the world is totally connected, but seems more and more disunited. We need to entrust ourselves to the Mother. In Scripture, she embraces numerous concrete situations and is present where she is needed: she comes to the house of her cousin Elizabeth, she helps the couple at Cana, she encourages the disciples in the Upper Room... Mary is the remedy for loneliness and disintegration. She is the Mother of consolation, who consoles because she remains with those who are alone. She knows that words are not enough to console, but presence is necessary; she is present there as a mother. Let us allow her to embrace our life. In the Salve Regina We call it “our life”: it seems exaggerated, because Christ is life (cf. Jn 14:6), but Mary is so united to him and so close to us that there is nothing better than to place one's life in her hands and recognize her as “our life, our sweetness and our hope.”»
(Homily of H.H. Francis, January 1, 2019).
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 kiss my mother today, no matter the distance, whether or not she is celebrated on the civil calendar.
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.
