Jorge Alberto Leaños García, 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)
Today I place myself in your presence to know what you want from me. It is difficult, I cannot hide this reality, but trusting in your hands I make an effort and I dispose myself, with an open spirit, to whatever you want to transmit to me or to others, through my humble person.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to St. Mark 16, 15-18
At that time, Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever refuses to believe will be condemned. These are the miracles that will accompany those who have believed: they will cast out demons in my name, they will speak with new tongues, they will catch snakes in their hands, and if they drink deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick and they will be healed.”.
Word of the Lord.
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
How many encounters we have had with an unexpected Christ. The apostles, after the Passion, were not expecting him. St. Paul, blinded by his own interests, had an unexpected encounter. Now we have an encounter with Christ, but what do we expect from him? We can be in the same position as the Apostles and St. Paul: not knowing what I am going to receive, not knowing what I am going to hear, not knowing, this is the fear.
Watch and pray that the spirit of God may ask and, after this request, we may enter into great confusion. Let us know how to accept the will of God. Let us meditate with time, with recollection everything that God tells us, following the example of Paul of Tarsus who, after feelings of confusion, fear and incomprehension, withdrew to the desert where he could think, then he could meditate and finally he could choose the best part: to serve God.
Let us see that, after an encounter with God, on the least expected day, at the least expected hour, God comes and speaks, shouts and stuns. What we must do is clear: continue to listen to him attentively in silence, and after understanding what his will is, give a “yes” that defines the course of our lives.
This is a daily exercise and, as an exercise, it is hard to keep on responding constantly. Not only will it be worthwhile, but, from St. Paul's experience, we can say that it is worth a lifetime. Let us also look at the apostles who, upon hearing this “Go and preach,” meditated on this desire and dared to give a “yes” even unto death.
Let's give it a try: let's listen, meditate and respond.
«The first thing Jesus asks is to go, not to stay in Jerusalem: “Go into all the world and proclaim the Good News to all creation”. It is an invitation to go out, to go. The Gospel is always proclaimed on the way: never sitting down, always on the way, always. Go out, therefore, to go where Jesus is not known and where Jesus is persecuted or where Jesus is disfigured, to proclaim the true Gospel».
(Homily of H.H. Francis, April 25, 2017, in Santa Marta).
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 we entrust to St. Paul our conversion of heart and that of our loved ones.
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.
