Cristian Gutierrez, 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)
Thank you, Lord, for giving me the opportunity to be with you again. This is the best moment I have and for that reason I want to dedicate it entirely to you. You know me and you know everything I need. Give me what is best for me and what is your will. You know how much I love you. I would like to love you more and therefore I ask you to increase my love. Give me a faith that allows me to discover your presence and your action in my life and never allow me to be separated from you.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew 13:44-46
At that time, Jesus said to the crowd: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. He who finds it hides it again and, full of joy, goes and sells what he has and buys that field. The kingdom of heaven is also like a merchant in fine pearls, who, finding a pearl of great value, goes and sells all he has and buys it”.
Word of the Lord.
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
I have recently meditated on this passage and once again you present it to me in the liturgy because your word always speaks to us and can tell us new things.
May I pause this time to consider the fact that the person who finds the treasure in the field hides it again. It is strange to do this, for you risk the danger of someone else finding it and taking it away. Wasn't it simpler to take the treasure out, take it away and then buy the field?
You want to talk to me about the importance of renunciation. You don't want to be one more treasure in my life. You want to be my only treasure. You speak of hiding again because possessing you implies a whole path of work, efforts and struggles. It is not easy to sell everything if you have not found the treasure that encompasses more than all that I have. It is necessary to discover you, to contemplate your value and this will give me the strength to give up anything for you.
I could also think that this field is heaven. That place that is waiting for me and that you have gone to prepare for me. Maybe I have already found you in my life and I have contemplated your beauty, your richness, your immense value; but only until I get that field will I be able to enjoy you. It is one thing to see the loved one only in photos, in a video call or to receive their letters and gifts; it is quite another to be with them, to touch them, to give them a hug, a kiss, to receive a caress. That is what awaits me in heaven. But, in the meantime, since I have glimpsed the price of this treasure, of this field, I must give my all to obtain it.
In this same scope of renunciation I see the pearl merchant. It is obvious that he must have in his possession many pearls. They were the raw material of his work. But when he finds the most valuable pearl he had seen, he sells all the pearls, sells the business, sells the other branches and buys the pearl. He resigns. He does not make a loan or mortgages to buy the fine pearl and keep the others. He sells everything he has.
Help me, Lord, to discover the great value you have in my life. Or at least to desire that You be the only treasure, the only pearl for which every renunciation, every sacrifice is worthwhile. I know that once I have found the treasure it is not easy to sell everything to attain it, but I know that with your grace I can do everything. Lord, may You be my treasure, may You be my only pearl.
«To meet him [Jesus] we must go there, where he is: we must lean back, lower ourselves, become small. The Child who is born challenges us: he calls us to leave the deceptions of the ephemeral to go to the essential, to renounce our insatiable pretensions, to abandon our permanent dissatisfactions and our sadness before anything that will always be lacking. It will do us good to leave these things behind in order to find again in the simplicity of the Child God peace, joy and the luminous meaning of life».
(Homily of H.H. Francis, December 24, 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.
Today I will seek to renounce something that prevents me from getting closer and closer to God.
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.
