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)
Help me, Lord, to become your friend so that it will be more difficult for you to deny me something I ask of you. Forgive me for any impertinence I may have done, but You know better than I do how much I need You. I ask You to grant me a trust in You that will lead me to never stop asking You for the graces I need.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to Luke 11:5-13
At that time Jesus said to his disciples, “Suppose one of you has a friend who comes to him at midnight and says, ‘Please lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine is on a journey and I have nothing to offer him. But he answers him from within: ’Don't bother me. I cannot get up to give them to you, because the door is already closed and my children and I are already in bed‘. If the other continues to knock, I assure you that, although he will not get up to give them to you because he is your friend, nevertheless, because of your annoying insistence, he will get up and give you whatever you need. So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you. For he who asks, receives; he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. Is there a father among you who, when his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? or when he asks for fish, will give him a viper? or when he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? For if you, who are evil, know how to give good things to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?’.
Word of the Lord
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
The Christian life is a struggle, in which we face situations in which we must decide what is the best thing to do. Every moment is full of decisions, the time we get up, what we eat, the people we are with, etc. Our life is a crossroads of decisions and, in this context, we can think about what is the best way to decide. What is the best thing to do when our family or loved ones are involved? There are situations that are not easy and push us to limits we cannot imagine. That is where God's grace comes in, which can help us to do what is not easy in our own strength and tells us how God acts in our lives.
Constancy in prayer is another relevant point that is only given if we have the confidence that God will help us, or that He can do something and we need to awaken Him to work. Let us ask God to grant us the grace to see our life as a moment of deciding for what pleases Him the most and to be aware that constancy will be of great help in everything we do.
God knows what we need because He knows our heart and everything that moves us, as a Father He has us under His loving gaze. Who does not want to be by the side of such a kind father?
«And Jesus himself teaches us the parable of the man who goes to his neighbor to ask for bread at midnight: perseverance in knocking at the door. Or the widow, with the unjust judge: and she insists and insists and insists: it is perseverance. Faith and perseverance go together, because if you have faith, it is certain that the Lord will give you what you ask for. And if the Lord makes you wait, call, call, call, in the end the Lord gives the grace. But the Lord does not behave this way to make himself interesting or because he thinks “I'd better wait”, no. He does it for our own good, for our own good, for our own good. He does it for our own good, so that we take things seriously. Take prayer seriously, not like parrots: blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah and nothing more. Jesus himself reproaches us: “Do not be like the Gentiles who believe in the efficacy of prayer because of much talk, many words”. No. It is perseverance. It is faith.
(Homily of H.H. Francis, March 23, 2020).
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 ask God for the gift of trust and constancy.
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.
