Meditation Mk 2,23-28

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 field of grain. See paths, the weather. Jesus together with his disciples  are walking between the grain. They are picking the heads of grain. The Pharisees are outraged at this fact. On Sabbath, you must not mow, thresh and cleanse the cereals. And this is what the disciples of Jesus do according to the Pharisees. Listen to their accusations. See how Jesus reacts to this? What does he say? See if you are there, what are you doing, what do you feel?

Ask for the fruit of meditation: that my most important goal is to be with Jesus

 1. And the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”

We can assume that neither the disciples nor Jesus had a problem with picking  the heads of grain on the sabbath to not feel hunger. They knew why they were doing it. But the Pharisees have the problem, because they clung to the letter of the law, they were inflexible, locked in their schemes. Maybe even more they focused on others, they were more interested in someone else’s lives (especially the mistakes of others) than theirs. How then could they build their relationship with Jesus without going into it?

Who or what is at the center of your life? How do you build a relationship with Jesus, how do you fight for time to meet him?

2. The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.

St. Ignatius Loyola in The Spiritual Exercises, #23 writes:  As a result, we appreciate and use all these gifts of God insofar as they help us develop as loving persons.

How does it look in your life? Do you know why you are doing something, buying something or not doing something? How do the things you have recently bought help you be closer to God? How does your religious life influence your relationship with God and other people? Consider the purposefulness of taking or not taking up various matters, duties, eg giving gifts, text messaging, your smiling, being offended, keeping quiet, arguing, going on a pilgrimage or staying at home, taking part in a retreat (why just such?), etc.

See the motivations that guide you in your everyday life.

3. I encourage you to enter the meditative scene. Who are you in it? What are you doing? Who are you talking to? What do you feel? Follow your internal movements (they can be both pleasant and unpleasant) that appear in you. Finally, thank God for what is happening in your heart.

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)