Héctor Cortés Reyes, LC
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 Jesus, I place myself in Your presence this day, I want to tell You that I love You, in spite of all my mistakes and weaknesses, I want to love You, I want to give myself to You; and by my faith I know that You also want to receive my love. Help me this day, so that I may follow you more closely, and do not allow me to separate myself from you.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to Luke 21:5-11
At that time, some people praised the beauty of the temple for the quality of the stone and the votive offerings. Jesus said to them: “The day will come when there will not be left one stone upon another: all will be destroyed”. They asked him, “Master, when will that be, and what will be the sign that all this is to come to pass?” He answered, «Beware lest anyone deceive you. For many will come usurping my name, saying, “I am,” or else “The time is near”; do not go after them. When you hear news of wars and revolutions, do not panic. For that must happen first, but the end will not come at once.» Then he said to them, “People will rise up against people and kingdom against kingdom, there will be great earthquakes, and in various countries epidemics and famines. There will also be terrors and great signs in the sky”.
Word of the Lord.
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
“They marveled at the beauty of the temple”. I invite you to recall an occasion when you have marveled at the beauty of a building, or a work of art, or even a person. What was it that attracted you? Was it the beauty you perceived with your own eyes? Or was it the beauty of what they represented that attracted you?
It is natural for human beings to be carried away by appearances, by what the senses tell us, and many times it is difficult for us to go beyond external beauty. It is good to contemplate that which is beautiful, but it is important not to forget that everything we see will fade away.
And the same thing can happen in our own life, worrying a lot about fixing our exterior with good actions, but without going deep into the reason for them. Without connecting our actions with God. That is when beauty does not reach its fullness, when it is outside of God.
« Many say: “No, I will change my life” and think that to change one's life is to use make-up. To change one's life is to change the foundations of one's life, that is, to lay the rock that is Jesus. “I would want to restore this construction, this building, because it is very ugly, very ugly and I would want to beautify it a little bit and also secure the foundations.” But if I am going to make myself up again, the thing does not go forward: it will fall. With appearances, the Christian life falls». (H.H. Francis, December 5, 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.
Today I will make an examination of conscience on whether I have been carried away by appearances and ask God for clarity to see beyond appearances.
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.
