Cristian Gutierrez, 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, I thank you for this new day of life that you grant me, thank you for all the spiritual and material gifts that you give me. Thank you, even for those graces that have gone unnoticed in my life. Thank you for your presence and action in my daily life. Help me to believe in you more firmly, to hope more confidently and to love you more passionately. I renew my desire to follow you and to never abandon you.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew 18:15-20
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples, “If your brother commits a sin, go and admonish him alone. If he listens to you, you have saved your brother. If he does not listen to you, take one or two people with you, so that everything that is said may be recorded by the mouth of two or three witnesses. But if he will not listen to you, tell it to the community; and if he will not listen to the community, turn away from him as from a heathen or a tax collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. I also tell you the truth, if two of you agree in asking for anything, whatever it is, my heavenly Father will give it to you; for where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them”.
Word of the Lord.
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
Corrections are a subject that we have disliked since we were children. Many times in my life I have had to listen to corrections from my parents, my teachers, my coaches, my bosses, my partner, even my friends. Even my own conscience. Hearing someone else have to correct me is not the most pleasant thing to do, but it is quite healthy. To put an image to it, it's like vegetables for certain children: unpleasant, but healthy.
As you knew this, in this passage you launch the invitation to accept corrections and help each other to grow on the path of Christian life. You know well that no one is a good judge of his own cause and, therefore, others can be of great help on the path of holiness. To correct and to be corrected requires humility, respect, understanding, but above all love.
Without love it is better not to correct, because it hurts both. It is like eating a bad vegetable. It is no longer healthy and even less pleasant to the taste. In the case of my parents, I can discover a true example of Christian correction: a correction made out of love, because it seeks the benefit of the other; it is not vindictive; it does not seek to make oneself look good but to help, to serve, to enlighten, to guide. Help me, Lord, to know how to listen to the corrections of my brothers and sisters, to be grateful for them and to put them into practice. May I know how to discern when I can help another with a correction, but always motivated by purity of intention, humility, affection and love.
«The Spirit of forgiveness, who leads all things to harmony, urges us to reject other ways: the hasty ways of those who judge, those who have no way out, those who close all doors, the one-way ways of those who criticize others. Instead, the Spirit urges us to follow the two-way path of forgiveness offered and forgiveness received, of divine mercy that becomes love of neighbor, of charity that “must always be what leads us to act or not to act, to change things or to leave them as they are. Let us ask for the grace that, renewing ourselves with forgiveness and correcting ourselves, we may make the face of our Mother the Church ever more beautiful: only then will we be able to correct others in charity”.
(Homily of H.H. Francis, June 4, 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.
I will receive with humility the corrections I may receive this day and I will try to do with delicacy the ones I have to do.
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.
