Paulina Tena González Méndez, CRC
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)
Spirit of silence, come to this moment of prayer. Calm my interior, fill it with the fruit of your joy. Allow me to experience the presence of the living Jesus in the depths of my innermost being. In this prayer, may I recognize my restored relationship with the Father.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to John 20:11-18
At that time, outside by the tomb, Mary was weeping. As she wept, she looked into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the foot, where the body of Jesus had been. They ask her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She answers them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Having said this, she turns around and sees Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping, whom are you looking for?” She, taking him for the gardener, answers him, “Lord, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will gather him up.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!”. She turns and says, “Rabboni!”, which means, “Master! Jesus says to her, ”Let me go, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go, go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.‘' Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ”I have seen the Lord and he has said this.“.
Word of the Lord.
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
There is a phrase in this Gospel that is striking. You ask Mary to bring a message to your disciples... but the message is not that you are resurrected directly... there is a greater message.
“‘I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'”.
You ascend, you will sit at the right hand of God. You will reign with the power of love. You call Him your Father and your God, you confirm that it is the same message you have preached during your life here on earth.
“Mine and yours” you confirm to me how all that is yours is mine, you have incorporated me into you through Baptism, I am part of your body.
And then an enormous Easter gift: your resurrection is the overwhelming fact that has restored my relationship with the Father. I would like to let this phrase resound again and again within me “Your Father” and make it my own “My Father”. (repeat this phrase several times in your inner self)
Now I can trust even more confidently because your resurrection shows me His faithfulness. It shows me that living His will leads me to life. I can be a free and trusting child. Moreover, my Father is God: “Your God”. I have a Father, creator, powerful, who has overcome evil in the world and in my own life. A Father-God who rescues me, who is provident and kind. A God in whom goodness and truth triumph.
Grant me this experience of restoration in my being a child and like Mary Magdalene invite me to announce this message.
«A Christianity that seeks the Lord among the vestiges of the past and encloses him in the tomb of custom is a Christianity without Easter. But the Lord is risen! Let us not stop around the tombs, but let us go to rediscover him, the Living One! And let us not be afraid to look for him also in the faces of our brothers and sisters, in the stories of those who hope and dream, in the pain of those who weep and suffer: God is there!» (H.H. Francis, Homily of April 16, 2022).
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.
Throughout the day repeat this ejaculation within yourself. “My Father... My Father”.”
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.
