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Lk 2,22-35
As I begin, I become aware of the Lord present with me, looking upon me with love, desiring to speak to my heart.
Ask for the Grace: I will beg God our Lord that all my intentions and actions may be directed purely to the praise and service of His Divine Majesty
Fixing a place, a picture for meditation: Mary with baby Jesus and Joseph come to the Temple. According to the law of Moses, they have to consecrate the firstborn son to God. There is Simeon, who is waiting for the Son of God, to whom the Holy Spirit has promised not to die until he sees the Messiah.
Ask for the fruit of meditation: for trusting God and experiencing his love
- Holy Family.
The Holy Family faces various difficulties from the very beginning: the annunciation is a great surprise, difficult to accept for Mary and Joseph, her husband, who learns that his wife is pregnant and that he is not the father of the child; the moment of childbirth – they cannot find a place where Mary could give birth to a child; they have to run away to another country, to protect the child’s life. There are many other difficult moments, up to the death of Jesus on the cross, from a human point of view, a huge tragedy in the lives of each parent. It is likely that the Holy Family also experienced joyful events and had a pleasant time. Mary with Joseph, all these difficult and pleasant moments, eperienced with God, trusting him completely. This is their holiness. See how God guided them in their daily lives.
- Simeon.
He is a righteous and just man. The Holy Spirit promised him not die until he saw the Messiah. Simeon had his promise fulfilled. He recognized Jesus in the child brought by Mary and Joseph. It didn’t have to be easy, Jesus probably looked similar to the other children. Notice Simeon’s patience in waiting for the Messiah, and the deep faith and awareness that made him possible to recognize Jesus.
- The passing year …
I invite you to reflect on the ending year 2020:
a. Remind yourself the good moments of the ending year, good relationships, any good you have experienced. God was present in all of them. He gave all that good to you because he loves you. Thanks God for all good you have received.
b. Remind yourself difficult events, difficult relationships. Look at them from today’s perspective: how did you experience them, what good came out of them, what did you learn. In these difficult times, God was with you. Thanks God for them.
c.Look at the whole year: how has God guided you through this year? How did you take care of living your daily life with him and your relationship with him? What was your awareness of finding God in the other person, in yourself?
d.Think about one thing you want to improve in yourself, in experiencing your everyday life in order to live more fully in God.
Meditation: St Ignatius encourages in The Spiritual Exercises No. 2 … Because not so much knowledge, but internal feeling and the taste of things please and saturate the soul, that is, we stay where we feel interior movement … and nervously do not try to go on.
The final conversation: Spend a little time at the end, being with God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit….as you would with a good friend: sometimes talking, sometimes listening, sometimes being together in silence. Speak to God about your feelings. Remember that times when ‘nothing is happening’ can also be significant. When you’re ready, end your prayer by saying thank you or using words that are familiar,such as the Lord’s Prayer (Our Father)–whichever feels right and comfortable. (The Spiritual Exercises No.54)
Lk 1,46-56
As I begin, I become aware of the Lord present with me, looking upon me with love, desiring to speak to my heart.
Ask for the Grace: I will beg God our Lord that all my intentions and actions may be directed purely to the praise and service of His Divine Majesty
Fixing a place, a picture for meditation: Mary is on a long journey through the mountains to visit her cousin Elizabeth. She probably is very tired. She greets Elizabeth. They start talking. The words of today’s Gospel flow from Mary’s dialogue with Elizabeth. You can accompany them in the meeting.
Ask for the fruit of meditation: for deep joy, filling my heart with the encounter of God
- Worship and thanksgiving.
Mary’s words in today’s Gospel are called a hymn of thanksgiving. Mary glorifies God for his action throughout her life, throughout the history of her life and of her ancestors. It can be said that with humility and trust she accepts and integrates everything she has experienced in her life, all the difficult moments and all the joyful moments, because in every piece of her story she was able to notice God’s action. Thanks to this, she could feel cared for by God, that is, loved by him.
Following an example from Mary, look at your life and see how God has guided you and continues to guide you. What great things has the Almighty done for you? What can you thank today?
- …all generations will call me blessed…
Stop at the word BLESS. To bless someone is to wish someone good, to speak, to do good, and trust God that my wishes will be shared by the one I turn to with them. In the biblical sense, blessing from God means prosperity, life in peace and health, that is, material and spiritual development.
Mary is therefore aware that she is created for a happy life, for the joy of living in God. She does not run away from it, she does not deny it, she herself talks about it in her Magnificat (praise). This testifies to her humble attitude, that is, to live in truth: she accepts that there are difficult spaces in life and those that give joy.
How are you living your life? How do you receive and understand God’s blessing on you
3.Magnificat.
I invite you to create and pray your Magnificat as you can …
Meditation: St Ignatius encourages in The Spiritual Exercises No. 2 … Because not so much knowledge, but internal feeling and the taste of things please and saturate the soul, that is, we stay where we feel interior movement … and nervously do not try to go on.
The final conversation: Spend a little time at the end, being with God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit….as you would with a good friend: sometimes talking, sometimes listening, sometimes being together in silence. Speak to God about your feelings. Remember that times when ‘nothing is happening’ can also be significant. When you’re ready, end your prayer by saying thank you or using words that are familiar,such as the Lord’s Prayer (Our Father)–whichever feels right and comfortable. (The Spiritual Exercises No.54)
Mt 21, 28-32
Stand in God’s presence. God is present here and now, looking upon you with love.
Ask for the Grace: I will beg God our Lord that all my intentions and actions may be directed purely to the praise and service of His Divine Majesty
Fixing a place, a picture for meditation: See the father and two sons in the apartment. The father tells his sons to go and work in his vineyard. One son answers affirmatively to his father’s request and the other refuses. Then they do exactly the opposite of their answers
Ask for the fruit of meditation: for the experience that I am a beloved son / daughter of God
- My attitude.
Today’s Gospel speaks of obedience to God the Father. Both sons symbolize the disciples of Jesus to whom he announces the will of God. Tax collectors, prostitutes, or sinners who were considered alienated from God, rebelled at first, but later fulfilled God’s will. The leaders of the nation of Israel were considered those who are closest to God, know the commandments and the Holy Scriptures, but they did not confirm them by their actions, they rejected God’s will. God’s will is not only to accept the Gospel, but to adapt it to life: patient fulfillment of our duties, faithfulness to prayer, looking for greater good in our daily lives and the relationships in which we are. This passage clearly shows us that God is present not only in thoughts, theories, but most of all things in real facts. Thus, Love is shown more in deeds than in words (St. Ignatius of Loyola).
Who are you in the meditated scene? Which son are you? In what situations and relationships are you more like the first son and which are you more like second son? Why?
- Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.
These are God’s words to you today. How you accept them may depend on what image of God you carry in you: is he a judge who threatens you with a penalty, is he a thief who wants to take away your plans, is he a Santa Claus who is to fulfill your cravings, or an accountant who scrupulously writes down everything you do, whether is he the Merciful Father who loves his children and desires good and happiness for them, who extends his hand to you and is born in you every day? Going further, notice that your perception of your life, what God is inviting you to do, depends on this image. Religiousness, rituals, devotional mantle with which we can sometimes cover our true motivations also depend on this image of God the Father.
What image of God do you carry within you? Maybe today you need to verify it… to experience that you truly are his beloved son, beloved daughter.
Meditation: St Ignatius encourages in The Spiritual Exercises No. 2 … Because not so much knowledge, but internal feeling and the taste of things please and saturate the soul, that is, we stay where we feel interior movement … and nervously do not try to go on.
The final conversation: Spend a little time at the end, being with God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit….as you would with a good friend: sometimes talking, sometimes listening, sometimes being together in silence. Speak to God about your feelings. Remember that times when ‘nothing is happening’ can also be significant. When you’re ready, end your prayer by saying thank you or using words that are familiar,such as the Lord’s Prayer (Our Father)–whichever feels right and comfortable. (The Spiritual Exercises No.54)
Lk 1,26-38
Stand in God’s presence. God is present here and now, looking upon you with love.
Ask for the Grace: I will beg God our Lord that all my intentions and actions may be directed purely to the praise and service of His Divine Majesty
Fixing a place, a picture for meditation: See Palestine, the place, where we can see wars and unrests till today. Look at the northern part of this land. Find there the small-town Nazareth. There is a synagogue, a cemetery and a house made of clay. Miriam lives in this house. Miriam is probably about 14 – 16 years old. Try to see her face, how she looks like and see angel Gabriel. He comes to Miriam to say her news: she will become the Mother of God.
Ask for the fruit of meditation: for the grace of openness to God’s invitation to Life and my responding to his invitation
1. My conceiving.
God becomes a human being, because his desire is to be as close as possible to a man. He does it because of his love to people, to you. God wanted you and you were conceived because of the same Love. Think for a moment how amazing your birth was.
2. Meeting Miriam with angel Gabriel.
See the picture of this meditation: what does Miriam experience and what is feeling at the moment, when angel Gabriel is giving her inner knowledge, that she will become the Mother of God? After all, she is engaged to Joseph. What feelings in her are born? What desires has she in her heart? Listen to the conversation between Miriam and angel Gabriel. Allow yourself to be there and to participate in the event.
3. My plans.
God broke Miriam’s plan. She was in a situation that is probably completely incomprehensible to herself. She asked the Angel: How can this be …? God went in her everyday life, into her habits. It destroys her order of life. Miriam might feel anxious, might feel that she was losing her plans, her dreams, but she was not running away. Perhaps she believed that God came to her to give her life a new quality, to transform it and that is why she undertook this task.
Likewise, God comes into your life. Remember when God broke your plans. What? What did you feel then and how did you react? How did you respond to God? How did this affect your life? Sometimes we may not know at the beginning what a new, difficult situation leads us to, with time it turns out that it has a deeper meaning, acquires a new quality.
4. My conceiving today.
Your conceiving takes place every day, because every day you have a new chance to change yourself, to renew your relationship with yourself, with God, with your loved ones. How do you feel knowing that God is re-creating you, molding you, shaping you every day, wanting you to experience Life with Him more fully?
Meditation: St Ignatius encourages in The Spiritual Exercises No. 2 … Because not so much knowledge, but internal feeling and the taste of things please and saturate the soul, that is, we stay where we feel interior movement … and nervously do not try to go on.
The final conversation: Spend a little time at the end, being with God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit….as you would with a good friend: sometimes talking, sometimes listening, sometimes being together in silence. Speak to God about your feelings. Remember that times when ‘nothing is happening’ can also be significant. When you’re ready, end your prayer by saying thank you or using words that are familiar, such, as the Lord’s Prayer (Our Father)–whichever feels right and comfortable. (The Spiritual Exercises No.54)
