Meditation Mt 18,12-14

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 in the mountains with his sheep. He has a hundred sheep. He decides to count them and he sees that there are 99 of them. He leaves the 99 sheep and goes looking for the lost one. After a while he finds the sheep he was looking for. Look, feel his joy for finding a sheep. Where are you in this scene?

Ask for the fruit of meditation: that I find my value in God

1.Shepherd leaves 99 sheep to search of the one. Why did the shepherd take such an irrational step in human perception? It might seem that one less can mean anything compared with such a quantity of sheep. And yet that one was very important for the shepherd. He knew its value, its price, its uniqueness. The sheep was not one of the hundred sheep for him, but the only one he had among others

.-        Look at your life, your affairs, your loved ones: what and why is this unique sheep for you, whom you are able to leave 99 others?

–        The shepherd takes care of the one who is strayed and in need of help. Look at yourself – maybe today you need help. How do you take care of yourself today?

–        We often see the weakest and needy outside our loved ones: we see homeless, sick people. And it’s good. Perhaps, at this time of Advent, it is worth noting straying sheep in your family? Maybe there are neglected relations? Maybe there are people who have not asked how they feel in a long time? Maybe now is it a good time to call, ask if they need something?

2.Now Jesus comes to you as a shepherd, who has found the lost sheep, that you are and for which he left the remaining 99 sheep. He was looking for you because you are special to him. Be with Jesus, let Him enjoy meeting with You.

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)