José Romero, 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, help me to be able to reach you.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to St. Mark 7, 24-30
At that time, Jesus left Gennesaret and went to the region where Tyre is located. He went into a house, for he did not want anyone to know that he was there, but he could not pass unnoticed. A woman, who had a child possessed by an unclean spirit, heard about it immediately, went to look for him and prostrated herself at his feet. When that woman, a Syrian from Phoenicia and a pagan, begged Jesus to take the demon out of her daughter, he replied, “Let the children eat first. It is not right to take bread from the children and give it to the little dogs”. The woman replied, “Yes, Lord, but it is also true that the little dogs under the table eat the crumbs that the children throw away”. Then Jesus answered her, “Go on, go; because of what you have said, the devil has already gone out of your daughter”. When the woman arrived home, she found her daughter lying in bed, and the demon had gone out of her.
Word of the Lord.
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
Describing the scene we see a desperate Greek woman, because she wants to save her daughter, at the feet of Jesus and He responds “let the children eat first”, a response with words too strong to come from the mouth of God. But Jesus ends up being harsher by saying that it is not right to feed the dogs with the bread that is destined only for the children of Israel, only for the children of God. But this response of God to the Greek woman is to give her something important, the strong response is to help her.
The attitude of the Greek woman is a completely supplicant attitude, full of faith because she believed that Jesus would save her daughter; full of hope because she trusted that God would listen to her and full of love because she was lying at the feet of Jesus only because she loved her daughter. It seems that faith, hope and charity are the elements we need for God to give us what we ask for; but Jesus constantly helps us, as he helped the Greek woman, so that our supplication is filled with sincere humility.
Being at the feet of Jesus seems to be an act of humility, but in reality it is not, because she, being who she was, did not deserve to be with God; she was a pagan close to the Jewish God. How many of us deserve to be at the feet of our Lord? How many of us have the honor of being called children of God? The Greek woman, by the answer of Jesus, knew that she did not deserve the bread of God, that she had no right to ask for it but, if something was left over she knew that she could have it; she came to know that the love of God is so great that it always welcomes everyone, she knew the love that God has for us.
This is what is important in our relationship with God, to know that even though I am a sinner, He will always give me of His bread, of His love, and that every response or silence on His part is so that I may grow in the knowledge of His love for me. A sincere humility given to me by God will help me to believe, to trust and, above all, to love Love; it will help me to rise from the feet of Christ with my daughter healed or not, but with the awareness that God loves me.
«This is the teaching of Jesus: he who trusts in the Lord, who is the shepherd, lacks nothing. Even if he goes through a dark valley, he knows that evil is a temporary evil, but the definitive evil will not exist, because the Lord, “because you are with me, your staff and your rod give me security”. But this is a grace, we must ask for it: “Lord, teach me to entrust myself into your hands, to trust in your guidance, even in the ugly moments, in the dark moments, in the moment of death, I trust in you because you never let me down, you are faithful”.
(Homily of H.H. Francis, March 14, 2016).
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.
Participate today in a Eucharistic hour or at least make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament, because I will see the Eucharist as the greatest demonstration of God's love.
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.
