Iván González, 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 believe in you. I want to say it once again: I believe in you. My prayer life may become routine, but I will not cease to renew my option for you. Once again I want to tell you, with all the meaning of my being: I believe in you.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew 13:47-53
At that time, Jesus said to the crowd, “The kingdom of heaven is also like a net which the fishermen cast into the sea and catch all kinds of fish. When the net is full, the fishermen take it out to the beach and sit down to choose the fish; they put the good ones in baskets and throw the bad ones away. The same thing will happen at the end of time: the angels will come and separate the bad from the good and throw them into the fiery furnace. There will be weeping and despair. “Have you understood all this?” They answered him, “Yes.” Then he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who is instructed in the things of the kingdom of heaven is like a householder, who is bringing out of his treasure new things and old.” And when he had finished saying these parables, Jesus departed from there.
Word of the Lord
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
Lord, who can accept your words? If I reflect on them in depth, with time, seeking to understand them, I must confess that they seem harsh to me. To separate the good from the bad, what do you want to teach me with this parable? It seems to me that your mercy is hidden; and that a justice that is “too” just comes to light.
The image that helps me most to understand this passage is to think of a father of a family. He loves his children and, precisely because he loves them, he also scolds them. He knows that if he does not make demands of them, if he does not teach them to live virtuously, they could be exposed to many evils, corporal and spiritual.
The father, even though he knows he is doing the right thing, still finds it hard every time he has to correct his child. And, at the same time, he knows that the coin of freedom will always be in the air. In other words: he will seek to pass on the best to his children, but he knows that his children will be the ones who will ultimately decide his path.
Well, there you are now, as a messenger of God the Father. He does not want any of his children to be lost. That is why he comes to speak to us with a parable, with a “rebuke” that may seem harsh and somewhat disheartening. Every word, every gesture in my life is motivated by his love and is to show me the way of love.
May I now begin to open my eyes a little more, to seek only that which is good for me and for others. That which truly leads me to love. May I understand that the choice is mine. But may I also always remember that God is patient and that I can trust Him if I still find it hard to take the first step.
«A good father knows how to wait and how to forgive, from the depths of his heart. Of course, he also knows how to correct with firmness: he is not a weak, submissive, sentimental father. The father who knows how to correct without degrading himself is the same one who knows how to protect without rest. I once heard a father at a meeting of a married couple say, ‘I sometimes have to hit my children a little, but never in the face, so as not to degrade them’ How nice! He has a sense of dignity. He must punish, he does it fairly, and he goes ahead.».
(Homily of H.H. Francis, February 4, 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.
I will make a review of my life of grace and try to improve on a particular point that will help me to improve it or to change some habit that is leading me to constantly lose it.
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.
