J 13, 21-33. 36-38

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: Last supper: see Jesus and his disciples during a meal. Imagine a table, what is on it, how Jesus sits and the disciples, Listen to their conversation.

Ask for the fruit of meditation: for the experience of Jesus’ love and presence

 

1.Movement.

In Biblia Tysiąclecia we read that Jesus was deeply moved, in Biblia Paulistów that Jesus was deeply shocked, and in Grecko -Polski Nowy Testament that Jesus was moved.

This proves that Jesus strongly felt some emotions, which was influenced by the reality he was in: a farewell meal with the apostles, the awareness of Judas’ betrayal, Peter’s denial of his acquaintance with him, the Passion that awaited him and the death of the cross. Get into the atmosphere of this reality of Jesus. Accompany Jesus. You can ask him a question: how can I help you?

 

2. Change.

The disciples are embarrassed, they do not understand Jesus’ words, perhaps they feel fear that Jesus wants to leave them. They can guess some changes to come, but they do not know its consequences. Although Jesus was preparing them for his departure, his resurrection, he promised them to send the Holy Spirit. It’s so hard to see hope when you experience loss.

Sometimes you have to get away from yourself, from others, to get a new perspective, a new perspective of your reality. The departure can also be an expression of love, just like the departure of Jesus, which is related to our salvation, that is, with what allows us to live life more fully and experiences his presence and love even more.

See how you experience changes, departures, creating distance, returns. Find examples when you thought that nothing good will happen to you, that the loss you have experienced will not turn you into the so-called straight, and then it turned out that the sun was shining again and that a new good had arisen. Jesus is with you. Now in the midst of a pandemic, another lockdown too you may feel hopeless. What gives you strength to live, what give you hope?

 

 3.     … the disciple whom Jesus loved (…) leaned on the chest of Jesus …

You are the disciple whom Jesus loves. Meet him as you need, 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)

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J 8,21-30

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: Imagine a place where Jesus meets Jews or where you meet him: maybe it’s a square in the city, a park, your house…

 

Ask for the fruit of meditation: for the experience of Jesus’ presence and trust in him

 

  1. Misunderstanding.

Jesus encounters misunderstanding of people, even the closet ones. Although he has been with them for a long time, they ask the question “Who are you?”. I would like you to look at the loneliness that Jesus experiences. Note that he does not give in to despair, does not ask why, he only warns against unbelief, which does not exclude difficult feelings. How could Jesus feel in this situation? What gave him strength? Today, many people, maybe you too, experience loneliness and misunderstanding. Another year of epidemic, quarantine is a difficult time. We may not understand the new reality. What gives you strength and what helps you taste life?

 

  1. I am.

It is worth considering if we behave like Pharisees and Jews from this Gospel. Jesus says << I am >>. He is and that is the message for today. How do you experience his presence and intimacy today during the coronavirus pandemic? How does this new reality, maybe a new kind of encounter with Jesus change you, your relationship with others and with him?

 

  1.  if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins

We are often afraid of sin, or rather its consequences in the form of the so-called God’s punishment. First of all, sin hurts ourselves, because of it we lose our relations with ourselves, with other people and with God. He cuts us off from life, from joy. What is blocking you from living? Maybe it is time to believe more that Jesus is and, despite the blockages, go to Life…

 

4. I always do what pleases him – let this icon be a quote from Pope Francis, Christus vivit point 12

One of Jesus’ parables (cf. Lk 15:11-32) relates that a “younger” son wanted to leave his father’s home for a distant land (cf. vv. 12-13). Yet his thoughts of independence turned into dissolution and excess (cf. v. 13), and he came to experience the bitterness of loneliness and poverty (cf. vv. 14-16). Nonetheless, he found the strength to make a new start (cf. vv. 17-19) and determined to get up and return home (cf. v. 20). Young hearts are naturally ready to change, to turn back, get up and learn from life. How could anyone fail to support that son in this new resolution? Yet his older brother already had a heart grown old; he let himself be possessed by greed, selfishness and envy (Lk 15:28-30). Jesus praises the young sinner who returned to the right path over the brother who considered himself faithful, yet lacked the spirit of love and mercy.

 

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)

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J 5,1-16

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: Jerusalem during a festival of the Jews. Jesus also goes up to Jerusalem at that time and he meets a man who has been ill for 38 years.

Ask for the fruit of meditation: for the hope that Jesus gives me

 

  1. Do you want to be made well?

In the Gospel we see a sick man. His disease is not named. Perhaps it is some kind of motor dysfunction, a kind of paralysis that prevents him from moving freely. They make this man stay in the same place for several decades and repeat the same pattern of action: he tries to approach the pool of water. And then Jesus comes to him and asks: Do you want to be made well? The sick man does not answer this question directly, but tells about his difficulties. anything else, he doesn’t have to make decisions, and he has an excuse for his miserable life.

Look at your reality, look at yourself. What is paralyzing you in your life? What are the benefits of being stuck in your illness , paralysis?

 

  1. Stand up, take your mat and walk.

Jesus says to the sick man: Stand up, take your mat and walk. It is an invitation or a call to life for which the sick person has to take responsibility. It’s up to him to get up, pick up the mat and go on. It is his decision and responsibility how he lives his life.

This scene is an invitation for us to learn to respond to Jesus, another people, to take responsibility for our life, for its shape, taste and smell. Each decision is better than no decision, because it leads us to a different place, it does not keep us paralyzed. If it is not good, you can always change the course of action. Daily prayer helps in discerning – that is, meeting Jesus (cf. CCC 2725: We pray as we live, because we live as we pray.)

What is your response to Jesus’ invitation to live? How do you take responsibility for your own life? What shape, smell and taste do you give it? How do you give life to others?

 

  1. … do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you.

Jesus shows that sin is worse than bodily disease. Note that Jesus does not scare the sick of Hell, but rather indicates worse consequences in life, a spiritual paralysis that is worse than physical paralysis. This paralysis may be the loss of hope that I will get out of a difficult situation, addiction, the lack of faith that I have an influence on my life or the resignation from my needs and desires.

What are you choosing today: Jesus who gives hope and life or spiritual paralysis that gives you hopelessness?

 

  1. … Jesus saw him …

Now Jesus see you. He goes to you just as he went to the sick man. Let yourself meet Jesus 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)

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Mt 18,21-35

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: imagine someone asking for something, e.g. a favor, debt relief, forgiveness …

Ask for the fruit of meditation: that I would like to take small steps towards Jesus 

1.     Then Peter came and to him, Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?

a) Perhaps we would also like to get an answer from the outside, maybe even receive a written letter from God with precise instructions on what to do. However, everyone makes the decision by himself / herself, even if he / she received an advice of what and how much to do. It is up to you whether and how you use the advice. It is always your decision and your responsibility. How do you experience your responsibility for your life?

 b) Very often we would like to clearly specify << how much? >> for our internal or external certainty. In the passage under consideration, Jesus shifts Peter’s attention from the word how much to the quality of forgiveness. This is well explained by Fr. S. Ormanty TChr in the Biblical Commentary (my translation): In those social conditions, incurring debts was commonplace. One servant had a small debt owed to his fellow servant: one hundred denarii, which is the equivalent of one hundred working days in Israel. Such debt contrasts strongly with the debt of the servant of the Lord – ten thousand talents are a huge sum, impossible to pay back; the talent was six thousand denarii. So, we have a great numerical contrast. In the face of such a great debt, the servant could only count on his generosity. And here lies the main meaning line of this parable. (Żywe bowiem jest słowo Boże, skuteczne… Komentarze biblijne do czytań na rok A, S.Ormanty TChr, Hlondianum, Poznań 2007, 313). What is the quality of your forgiveness for yourself and others? What does this parable encourage you in your life situation, where you are? Which debtor are you more aware of? 

  1. Divine Mercy

God loves you and he first comes to you and forgives your sins, faults. He does it out of love. For him, forgiveness is always a profit, meaning an ever-renewed relationship with a human being. Jesus’ reply: <<Not seven times, but I tell you, seventy-seven times.>>, introduces an infinite amount of forgiveness – always. God does not tire of forgiving. What moves me about this attitude of Jesus?

  1. A small step

Pope Francis in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium in point 44 wrote: … A small step, in the midst of great human limitations, can be more pleasing to God than a life which appears outwardly in order but moves through the day without confronting great difficulties. Everyone needs to be touched by the comfort and attraction of God’s saving love, which is mysteriously at work in each person, above and beyond their faults and failings.

Forgiveness is a process that needs time and continuous re-starting by taking small steps.  Rather, forgiveness is about my inner attitude towards the other person, so that my feelings will not grow in me, which will stimulate me to some kind of revenge, to get back on the other person, but I will be able to say with more and more calmness that I wish well to my culprit. The gradual forgiveness adds hope that you can do it. What moves or touches you in this?

 

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)

 

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Mt 23,1-12

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: chair (cathedral)

Ask for the fruit of meditation: to be true (humble) with Jesus 

1. … but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to beat, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them

Jesus draws attention to the two-track function of the Scribes and Pharisees and encourages them do whatever they teach you and follow it. In what sphere of life do you experience personal dualities, and what can you do to make Jesus more consistent? You can ask Jesus during this prayer.Notice, too, that Jesus, speaking of this two-track, tells you to keep whatever the Pharisees say. That is, looking at a broader perspective, he encourages us to take for ourselves what bring us the greater good. We can often meet reactions in ourselves and in others to authorities such as: how can he / she tell us something like that if he / she does so badly!  Yet Jesus speaks … you can listen to such people but not follow their actions. How is it in you in this context?  

 

2. They do all their deeds to be seen by others.

It is good to experience acceptance, affirmation, and being wanted from the beginning of your existence. Each of us desire this condition consciously or unconsciously. Unfortunately, the participation of each creature is marked by a crack, which we call the Original Sin and its consequences. The desire to be important, noticed, appreciated can arouse in us a certain “theatricality” of being, fascination, adulteration in various living spaces. What tendencies do you notice in yourself? It can contribute to our submission, the fear of setting boundaries, the tendency to self-exaltation, to actions that prove that I must earn acceptance. More generally, this desire, while good in itself, can be very destructive to ourselves. What tendencies do you notice in yourself? Allow yourself to be with it in front of Jesus who takes it upon himself and transforms it constantly. Let yourself be with it before Jesus, who took it and changed it.  

 

3.The greatest among you will be your servant. Answer the question – and what does it mean to serve? – is in Jesus’ life – in his way of experiencing all reality. We learn this attitude by being selfless (motivated – intending) being with Jesus. Prayer is a time “lost” to being with Jesus. It transforms.

 

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)

 

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