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)
My Lord and my God, here I am at your feet to praise you. I want to be all yours and offer you all that I am. I want to do nothing but your will. I want to do whatever You ask of me for I know that this is what gives full happiness and deep peace.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew 15:21-28
At that time Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. Then a Canaanite woman met him and cried out, “Lord, son of David, have mercy on me. My daughter is terribly tormented by a demon”. Jesus did not answer her a word; but the disciples came and begged him, “Attend to her, for she is crying out after us.” He answered them, “I have not been sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Then she came to Jesus and fell down before him and said to him, “Lord, help me. He answered her, ”It is not right to take bread from the children and give it to the little dogs.“ But she replied, ”It is true, Lord, but the little dogs also eat the crumbs that fall from their masters“ table.” Jesus answered her, “Woman, how great is your faith! May it be done for you. And at that very moment her daughter was healed...
Word of the Lord
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
“Today I see a poor and humble woman, a woman who would have suffered great pain because of her daughter's illness. A tired woman with little hope, exhausted from searching everywhere for a solution to her pain. We can think of the face of a mother who spent long hours weeping for the pain of her child.
And there Jesus appears like a ray of light and hope in the darkness of her heart. She runs to meet him and stands before him with all her sorrows, she puts before Jesus her whole heart and opens it completely. She goes to the doctor of her soul and tells him her story with all her wounds and sufferings. She knows she is unworthy, but this does not stop her, for she recognizes the loving gaze of Jesus. She knows she is loved by this man from the first moment and does not hesitate to go to him. She does not hesitate to overcome the obstacles that may appear.
Today, Jesus comes into my life and looks at me with love, sees my pain and wants to heal me. Do I want to be healed? The important thing is not what Christ can do for me, but whether I want to be healed. I have to approach him and ask for it. Just as the woman was able to show her frailty, so I have to come forward and tell him my story, for that is the only way I can be healed.
The heart can become burdened with sufferings; sometimes we can hide them, but inside they can remain open, causing us much harm. It will be easy for us to present them to Jesus and leave them in his hands; but only in this way will we live the true life, in full freedom.
«We must always seek the Lord: we all know what bad moments are like, moments that bring us down, moments without faith, dark moments, moments where we do not see the horizon, we are not able to get up, we all know that. But it is the Lord who comes, who comforts us with his bread and with his outside and tells us to “get up and go forward, walk. Therefore, to meet the Lord we must be like this: standing up and on the way; then wait for Him to call us: open heart. And He will say to us “it is I”; and then faith will become strong. But is faith for me, to keep it? No, it is to go and give it to others, to anoint others, for the mission. Therefore, on your feet and on the way; in silence to meet the Lord; and on mission to bring this message, this life to others. This is precisely the life of a Christian».
(Homily of H.H. Francis, June 10, 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, Jesus, I am going to make a gesture to a family member or friend who is suffering and who may need my time.
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.
