Meditation Mt 18,1-5.10.12-14

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 intentionsand actions may be directed purely to the praise and serviceof His Divine Majesty

Fixing a place, a picture for meditation: See the mountain landscape: peaks, valleys, meadows. There is a shepherd with his sheep in the mountains. He has 100 of them. He decides to count them and it turns out that there are 99 of them. So, he leaves these 99 sheep and goes looking for the one lost. After a moment, he finds the sheep he was looking for. See, feel his joy at finding a sheep. Where are you in this scene?

Ask for the fruit of meditation: that I would receive, accept myself as God accepts and loves me 

1. Search and find.

The shepherd loses one of his 100 sheep, so he leaves everything to find it. The whole herd consists of 100 sheep. We do not know how a sheep was, if it was lost, because it may have been unruly, disobedient. But it is still needed, because the shepherd goes to look for her.I think that each of us has such experience in our lives that we really longed for a part of us to be lost, a part which it doesn’t like, which creates difficulties. It is worth finding this lost part. God comes to us through this part, for some reason it is important, it says something to us. It also creates us. Without it, we become scrapped like a flock of 99 sheep. St. Ignatius of Loyola says: If you find you have fallen, do not despair; even falls are in to well-being. What part of you have you lost that you do not accept? Find it, save it and unite it. 

2. …unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Look for a child who is spontaneous, who can cry and laugh, who trusts and thanks for everything he gets. This child has his needs, it is easy to hurt, he has his desires and dreams, he experiences frustration. In everything, however, he is honest, without masks. Allow yourself to experience what is happening inside you now, to feel the tastes that life brings. If you feel sadness, feel it, if you feel anger, feel it, if you feel joy, feel it, when you drink tea, feel its smell and taste, when you eat, feel the taste of this dish.

3. Meeting.Maybe now Jesus comes to you, looking for you like this lost sheep. Maybe you’ll meet him the way 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)