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)
At the end of this year, I want to place myself in your presence so that I may contemplate deeply this great mystery of life. Give me the grace to see what you want me to see, to hear what you want me to hear and to understand what you want me to hear.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to John 1:1-18
In the beginning there was already he who is the Word, and he who is the Word was with God and was God. Already in the beginning he was with God. All things came into existence through him, and without him nothing began of all that exists. He was life, and life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not receive it. There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but a witness of the light. He who is the Word was the true light, which enlightens every man who comes into the world. He was in the world; the world had been made by him, and yet the world knew him not. He came to his own, and his own received him not; but as many as received him, to them he gave power to become the sons of God, to them that believe on his name, who were born, not of blood, nor of the lust of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but born of God. And he who is the Word became man and dwelt among us. We have seen his glory, glory befitting him as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John the Baptist bore witness to him, crying out, “This is the one I meant when I said, ‘He who comes after me has precedence over me, for he was before me”". From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses, while grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, who has revealed him.
Word of the Lord
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
The Word can be related to the creative force of all things. The Word, in the beginning of time and forever, has been known as perfect, omnipresent, omniscient... But today we see that this majestic Word has been transformed and incarnated in a soft cry for a mystery of love. He has taken a helpless body and, at the same time, has abandoned himself in simple, humble and loving hands. We are before a scene that changed history, but not just any history, but my history, because God entered into the life of each one of the men who knew how to open the doors to Him.
Today we conclude a year, after celebrating the birth of our Savior, the King, the Creator, or rather, today let us remember again that my savior, my king and my creator has been born, and even more, my brother, my friend, my God... producing within me words of joy, shouts of jubilation. My ears have been startled. My eyes, as if after a long night, marveled at the light of this day. And my heart, tired of waiting, gave a deep sigh as it contemplated this unexpected event.
It is the end of the year. God has made known his only son, he has given him to me without demanding anything in return. What does he ask of me in return? Am I willing to give him?
«We are called to say “yes”, with our faith, not to the Dominator of the universe, not even to the noblest of ideas, but precisely to this God who is the humble lover [...] “God has made the effort to annihilate himself, to immerse himself within us, so that each one, I repeat, each one, can speak to him about you, have confidence, approach him, know that he is remembered by him, loved by him... loved by him: look, this is a very big word. If you understand this, if you remember what I am telling you, you will have understood the whole of Christianity».
(Homily of H.H. Francis, December 22, 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.
Give God whatever He asks of me this day.
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.
