H. Vicente Toledo, 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)
Jesus, You always speak to me from the depths of Your heart; You are in every moment of my life. Give me the grace, at this moment, to focus only on You and on what You want to tell me so that I may know You better, through You, know the Father and then be able to bring You to others.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to John 17:1-11
At that time, Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you, and by the power you have given him over all mankind, give eternal life to those you have entrusted to him. Eternal life consists in their knowing you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
I have glorified you on earth, carrying out the work that you entrusted to me. Now, Father, glorify me in you with the glory that I had before the world existed.
I have manifested your name to the men whom you took from the world and gave me. They were yours and you gave them to me. They have kept your word and now know that everything you have given me comes from you, because I have communicated to them the words you gave me; they have received them and now recognize that I came from you and believe that you sent me.
I ask you for them; I do not ask you for the world, but for these, which you gave me, because they are yours. All that is mine is yours and all that is yours is mine. I have been glorified in them. I will no longer be in the world, for I am coming to you; but they remain in the world.”.
Word of God.
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
It is good from time to time to ask myself: How is my prayer with Jesus? How are those personal or intimate encounters with the One who has given his life for me? Are they just a few more moments in my life? Do I talk about what is in my heart at that moment? Do I believe that the One I am talking to is Christ, the Son of the living God? What happens when there are difficult moments, when there is worry, fear, anguish?
Jesus is speaking from the depth of his heart, he is addressing the Father from the greatest intimacy that can exist. There is nothing else, there is nothing else, Jesus gives the right place to each moment and forgets everything because he is united to the Father. And his prayer, as always, is a prayer for each one of us, for me. He is close to the hour, but he never ceases to think at any moment of those to whom the Father has given him. Surely the heart of Jesus has fear, suffering, anguish, but He leaves all that aside to think only of others. Those he leaves behind in the world.
I can think that the world has no solution, that the present situation of the world is a punishment for our bad works or is the fault of the government. But Jesus did not think that at that moment, but he prays that, being in the world, he may have a taste of eternal life. Eternal life is not after death, thanks to Jesus, who gave his life for each one of us, I can enjoy a small part of that eternal life by uniting myself to Him from my own limitations. I already have the example, the union with Him through the Gospel, the Eucharist, the Cross.
«At Easter we see that the Father glorifies the Son, while the Son glorifies the Father. Neither glorifies himself. Today we can ask ourselves: “For whose glory do I live, my own or God's? Do I only want to receive from others or also to give to others? After the Last Supper, Jesus enters the garden of Gethsemane and here too he prays to the Father. While the disciples fail to stay awake and Judas is coming with the soldiers, Jesus begins to feel ”fear and anguish.« He experiences all the anguish for what awaits him: betrayal, contempt, suffering, failure. He is »sad« and there, in the abyss, in that desolation, he addresses to the Father the most tender and sweetest word: »Abba,« or father (cf. Mk 14:33-36). In trials, Jesus teaches us to embrace the Father, because in prayer to him is the strength to go forward in pain. In fatigue, prayer is relief, confidence, consolation. In the abandonment of all, in inner desolation, Jesus is not alone, he is with the Father. We, on the other hand, in our Gethsemane, often choose to remain alone instead of saying »Father“ and entrusting ourselves to Him, like Jesus, entrusting ourselves to His will, which is our true good. But when in the trial we close in on ourselves, we dig an inner tunnel, a painful introverted path that has only one direction: further and further down into ourselves. The biggest problem is not the pain, but how it is dealt with.” (Audience of H.H. Francis, April 17, 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 look for moments in my day to have a personal encounter with Christ in prayer.
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.
