Edison Valencia, 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, may I be able to see inside myself and discover the great things that You do for me and, in this way, may I be able to do them for others.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew 6:1-6. 16-18
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: “Be careful not to practice your works of piety before men, so that they may see you. Otherwise, you will have no reward with your heavenly Father. Therefore, when you give alms, do not announce it with a trumpet, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that men may praise them. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be secret; and your Father, who sees what is secret, will reward you. When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who like to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners, so that people will see you. I assure you that you have already received your reward. But you, when you go to pray, go into your room, close the door and pray before your Father, who is there in secret; and your Father, who sees the secret, will reward you. When you fast, do not put on a sad face, like those hypocrites who neglect the appearance of their faces, so that people will notice that they are fasting. I assure you that you have already received your reward. But you, when you fast, put perfume on your head and wash your face, so that people will not know that you are fasting, but your Father, who is in secret; and your Father, who sees the secret, will reward you”.
Word of the Lord.
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
I think that today's Gospel is quite clear and we could reflect a little, or rather, we could stop for a moment and think about these words that Christ tells us in the Gospel: «Be careful not to practice your works of piety before men». And the little examination of conscience that we could make would be: How has my charity been before God and before men? How has my generosity been? How has my availability been?
And so we could go on asking other questions. If the answers are positive, let us give thanks to God who has seen us in secret and in secret will reward us; and if not, let us ask God for the grace to have a purer intention every day.
We can do this after the example of Mary who did things for others in secret as at the wedding at Cana, and certainly on many other occasions.
«And let us look inside, in our hearts: how often do we suffocate the fire of God with the ashes of hypocrisy! Hypocrisy is the filth that today in the Gospel Jesus asks us to eliminate. In fact, the Lord does not say only to do works of charity, to pray and to fast, but to fulfill all this without simulation, without duplicity, without hypocrisy. However, how many times do we do something just to be esteemed, to appear, to feed our ego. How many times we call ourselves Christians and in our heart we yield without problems to the passions that enslave us. How many times we preach one thing and do another. How many times we appear to be good on the outside and hold grudges on the inside. How much duplicity we have in our hearts... It is dust that dirties, ashes that suffocate the fire of love. We need to clean the dust that settles in our hearts. How can we do it? St. Paul's heartfelt appeal in the second reading helps us: “Let us be reconciled to God”.
(Homily H.H. Francis, February 26, 2020)
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 reflect in my examination of conscience on how I have lived the virtue that Christ proposes to me in the Gospel.
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.
