Meditation J 17,1-11a

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: Today’s picture is the prayer of Jesus. Probably Jesus is praying outside, perhaps he has found a quiet place among greenery. Jesus raises his eyes to heaven and begins to pray. Be with Jesus and listen to his prayer.

Ask for the fruit of meditation: for the desire to know Jesus more and more

1. I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do.

Jesus shows glory to his Father by fulfilling the task. If we were to ask why Jesus fulfilled the task, the answer would be: because of love. So, give glory means to show love. It seems that the only way to show love, here on earth, is to make a gesture to the person whom we want to show our love. Next, if you do something good for another person, you show the glory to God, because he lives in each of us.

Perhaps not always our first motivation is love, even in good cases. The driving force behind action can be widely understood anxiety: before an opinion on their own subject, the nervousness of relatives or friends or the need to feed our own ego.

How do you show glory to God, in what acts for loved ones it manifests itself? Think about the motivations behind your actions. Do not judge yourself, just see. Ask God to purify your intentions.

2. Jesus says that eternal life means knowing God and the Son of God. Therefore, eternal life is not something that we can achieve sometime in the future or after death. But it is a life, that we can enjoy here and now. How do you know Jesus and God? In what relationship are you with them? What can help you know God better (eg. a different form or time of prayer, changing your habits …)?

3. Look at Jesus praying to his Father. Listen to how he prays for you, as he asks God for what you need. Jesus does it because of his love to you. What feelings does Jesus’s prayer makes in yourself?

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)