H. Miguel Angel Pastrana, L.C.
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, grant me the grace to accept the invitation to enter your heart.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to Luke 14, 15-24
At that time, one of those who were seated at table with Jesus said to him, “Blessed is the one who partakes of the banquet of the Kingdom of God”.
Then Jesus said to him, “A certain man prepared a great banquet and invited many people. When the time came for the banquet, he sent one of his servants to tell the guests to come, because everything was ready. But all, without exception, began to apologize. One said to him, ‘I bought a piece of land and I must go and see it; please excuse me. Another said to him, ’I bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them; I beg your pardon. And yet another said to him, ‘I just got married and so I can't go.
The servant returned and told the master everything. Then the master became angry and said to the servant, ‘Run out into the squares and streets of the city and bring the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame to my house.’.
When the servant returned, he said to him, ‘Sir, I did as you commanded, and there is still room.’ Then the master replied, ‘Go out into the highways and byways; urge them all to come and fill my house. I assure you that none of the first guests will partake of my banquet’ ”.
Word of the Lord.
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
We know the Christian maxim to die in order to have life, and to leave everything in order to follow Christ and be perfect. We repeat it a few times and, at once, our throat trembles or we break out in a cold sweat. To have God we must leave everything; we know this and the prospect frightens us. It may happen that, moved by love, we approach the Lord and say something like this: «Here I am Jesus, I want to come to You, do with me what You will» and inside we are saying «I hope He does not ask me to do what You will". this».
All this is natural, it is part of our everyday human experience. It is not that we love things in themselves, but that they give us certain securities, or provide us with certain tastes. We are afraid, it is normal. Everyone, from the most sinful man to the holiest; everyone: the priest, the truck driver, the housewife, the butcher, the businessman, and even the most dedicated apostle, goes through this experience.
In the Gospel there are many invited to the banquet, and all went through the experience of feeling that they had something better to do. Some accepted the invitation and some did not.
Christ, in the Gospel, looks with sadness at these men because they will not taste of the banquet He had prepared for them for them. Even so, He understands. He does not condemn those who do not want to come to Him, even if it hurts Him not to see them. We have all gone through this at one time or another; we have all said no to God's love. But our life is proof that God does not just stand there, but goes out to look for us.
There is so much room in God's heart at the banquet. God invites us all the time to enter into a personal relationship with Him. Let us not refuse, let us not make excuses, let us trust; that God takes nothing away and gives everything. How different it would have been if the guests in the Gospel had realized the love of the one who invited them, «Did you buy a piece of land, it won't budge if you come to the banquet!». «Do you want to try your five yoke of oxen, do it another day, so you get a break». «You just got married, bring your wife to the banquet!» God wants to transform our whole life.
How different is the response of those who know that things are fleeting. Surely the lame, the crippled and the people on the streets also had excuses, but they managed to see who was inviting them. May we too trust that it is God himself who invites us and wants to make us happy, and respond with love to his call of love.
«Jesus invites us to selfless generosity, to open the way to a much greater joy, the joy of being part of the very love of God that awaits us all at the heavenly banquet. May the Virgin Mary, “humble and elevated more than a creature,” help us to recognize ourselves as we are, that is, as little ones; and to rejoice in giving without anything in return.»
(Angelus of H.H. Francis, September 1, 2019).
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 repeat several times a day to the Lord that I accept His invitation to be with Him.
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.
