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 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 mountain landscape: peaks, valleys, meadows. There is a shepherd with his sheep in the mountains. The shepherd notices that one of the sheep is missing. He is going and looking for it and finding it. Feel his joy at finding the sheep.

Ask for the fruit of meditation: let me accept with love myself as I am now, just 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 flock consists of 100 sheep. Maybe the lost sheep was, if it was 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.

What does it mean to become like a child? What’s the child like? The child is usually active, creative, assertive (knows how to say, shows what he wants and say no), spontaneous, trusting, sensitive, can show emotions (child is happy, can cry, feels sad, angry), can be in the here and now ( young children rather don’t think about the past or about the future), a child is also curious about the world.What kind of child are you? What features are covered with a mask and what do you need it for?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. Be in here and now – 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, because he needs you and love you. Meet Jesus as 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)