Jesús Salazar Brenes, 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, teach me to be faithful and to multiply for good the gifts with which you have enriched my life, so that I may love you and all others more and better, especially those who are closest and most in need.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to Luke 19:11-28
At that time, as Jesus was approaching Jerusalem and the people thought that the Kingdom of God was going to manifest itself at any moment, he told them this parable: “There was a nobleman who went to a far country to be made king and to return as such. Before leaving, he sent for ten of his employees, gave them each a coin of great value, and said to them, “Invest this money while I return.” But his countrymen hated him and sent delegates after him, saying: “We do not want this man to be our king. But he was made king, and when he returned to his country, he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, to know how much each had earned. The first came forward and said to him, ”Sir, your coin has yielded another ten coins.“ He replied, ”Very good. You are a good employee. Since you have been faithful in a small thing, you will be governor of ten cities.“ The second came forward and said, ”Sir, your coin has produced five more coins. And the lord said to him, “You shall be the ruler of five cities. The third came forward and said, ”Sir, here is your coin. I have kept it in a handkerchief, for I was afraid of you, because you are a demanding man, who claims what he has not invested and reaps what he has not sown.“ The master replied, ”You are a bad employee. By your own mouth I condemn you. You knew that I am a demanding man, that I claim what I have not invested and reap what I have not sown, why, then, did you not put my money in the bank so that I, on my return, would have recovered it with interest?“ Then he said to those present: ”Take this man's coin from him, and give it to him who has ten.“ They answered him, ”Sir, he already has ten coins.‘ He said to them, ’Amen, I say to you, whoever has will be given it in abundance, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. As for my enemies, who would not have me as king, bring them here and kill them in my presence‘ ’. Having said this, Jesus continued on his way to Jerusalem at the head of his disciples.
Word of the Lord
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
In yesterday's Gospel, we meditated on Jesus' encounter with Zacchaeus and how that encounter changed his life, and today we continue with Jesus in Zacchaeus' house, but we are the ones invited to hear the Lord. This parable is one of the few occasions where Jesus uses the very explicit image of Him as king.
The king that the Gospel shows us, it would seem, is a king who knows nothing about mathematics and economics. First, he calls ten servants and gives them all ten the same amount of money regardless of how good they are at business. Secondly, when he returns, he calls only three to give him an account of how they have managed the money. Where are the other seven?
Seven is the biblical number of perfection. There is our part in the Gospel. God gave us ten ounces of the purest gold... Our life, our family, our qualities and talents, also our weaknesses or our sickness, our call to be closer to God, our vocation to be holy...
The million dollar question, are we hiding all that gold in the ground out of fear? Today the Lord invites us to start digging it up, because he who is faithful in a little, will have an enormous reward in the Kingdom of Heaven. Let us not be like the citizens who hated the king. Let us say to him today with all our hearts, Christ our King, thy Kingdom come!
«A young man: St. Francis Xavier, who died on the beaches of Shangchuan, overlooking China, at the age of forty-six. So young that one could even say “a waste”, even to the point of wondering why “the Lord did not leave him there a little longer”. But the attitude of St. Francis Xavier was to say: “Thy will be done, Lord”. He only knows how to say to him: “I have confessed your name to the end; never, Lord, have I hidden the lamp under the bed; you have given me five talents, I will give you five more”. And so, in peace, with joy, he departs».
(Homily of H.H. Francis, December 9, 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 thank God for all the gifts and talents He has given me throughout my life and I will check if I am not hiding any of them to put them to work.
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.
