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, prayer is the best way you have given me to get in touch with you. You know me better than anyone else. You know well what I need most, so I ask you to grant it to me. Increase my faith, my hope and my love for you. Lord, teach me to pray as you taught the disciples. I place my prayer next to yours, so that it may be an offering for the salvation of souls.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to St. Mark 6, 7-13
At that time Jesus called the Twelve, sent them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits. He commanded them to take nothing for the journey: no bread, no knapsack, no money in their belts, but only a staff, sandals, and a single tunic. And he said to them, “When you enter a house, stay in it until you leave that place. If anywhere they do not receive you or listen to you, when you leave that place, shake the dust off your feet, as a warning to them.” The disciples went off to preach conversion. They cast out demons, anointed the sick with oil and healed them.
Word of the Lord.
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
Only walking stick and sandals. No bread, no money, no saddlebag or other tunic. Curious indications! Perhaps I could stop to meditate on this advice you give to the disciples you send out to preach the Kingdom. I also belong to your Kingdom and therefore these counsels are also for me.
The staff is not only for support in the long journeys that await your disciples. The staff is also a sign of authority and command. You recommend it because the staff can be the external sign for them to recognize your disciples as ambassadors sent from you. This reminds me of an important attitude of the herald of the Kingdom: awareness of being sent.
Sandals seem to be an important element for every walker. You cannot go barefoot. You recommend sandals because they allow you to walk easily, without getting hurt and more quickly. Behind the advice of the sandals you may be recommending me the virtue of apostolic zeal, that passion that leads me to go always on new paths, to walk without rest, to never stop announcing your Kingdom. Sandals for perseverance in evangelization.
The other elements are those that you ask me not to carry: neither bread, nor money, nor saddlebag, nor tunic of change. Behind them are hidden my deepest personal needs, and therefore, they are my most immediate securities. The teaching that you want to give me with this is that I trust, that I abandon myself in your hands and let myself be guided, protected, nourished, covered by your providence that does not abandon those who lend themselves as your collaborators.
May this advice you give me today help me to be a better disciple of your Kingdom and enable me to bring your love where it is most needed.
«That is what it means to be sent: to follow Christ, and not to throw ourselves ahead in our own strength. The Lord will invite some of you to follow him as priests, and in this way become “fishers of men”. Others will be called to religious life, others to married life, to be loving fathers and mothers. Whatever your vocation, I exhort you: be courageous, be generous and, above all, be joyful!».
(Homily of H.H. Francis, November 30, 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 try to talk about Jesus or the Gospel to someone I know.
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.
