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 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 scene from the Gospel – a shepherd and his sheep.

Ask for the fruit of meditation: for clinging to Jesus – my Shepherd

1. The shepherd has 100 sheep. One is lost. So, he leaves 99 sheep to look for the one missing. He seems to be doing something irrational. After all, these 99 sheep can get lost while looking for one who has left the herd. The shepherd must therefore have great confidence in his sheep, since he leaves them while looking for one sheep. Jesus trusts you – think about it for a moment. What does this mean to you?

2. The shepherd is more pleased to find one lost sheep than 99 sheep who are not lost. Does this also not seem irrational? Many of us may feel the injustice of this shepherd’s attitude. But let’s look from a different way: maybe each of these 99 sheep was also a lost and found sheep by its shepherd before? How does this affect your perception of this situation?

3. Look inside yourself: what is your space lost and needs to be found by its shepherd?

4. For reflection from A Pilgrim’s Journey of Ignatius of Loyola: Our Lord, nevertheless, came to his aid…  (p. 47)

Read about example of Ignatius, maybe you find something for 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)