Meditation Mt 13,36-43

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 whole world. This world is a soil ready to receive seeds. Therefore, Jesus spreads the seeds all over the soil. Then you can see how he cares for them: watering, giving the sun, fertilizing when needed. The seeds begin to germinate, green stems and leaves grow, until the plants start to bear fruit. See this scene through your eyes of the imagination, smell plants, taste of fruit.

Ask for the fruit of meditation: that I would seek and find God in everything

In this passage of the gospel, Jesus explains to his disciples the parable of the weed. Good seed is sown in the world by God – means the sons of the kingdom and the weed sown by the Devil. Each of us can grow wheat – something that is life-giving, brings good fruit or a weed that does not seem good. The weed grows among cereals and is poisonous, although it is deceptively similar to the stalks of wheat. You have to be extremely careful not to confuse good grains with bad ones. Therefore, the process of discernment is very important: what I choose, why and what fruit has my choice brings. Note that God allows both good grain and bad to grow, there is room for everyone. This, among others, manifests God’s logic of salvation. God is not guided by the logic of condemnation, which is so often close to us. God gives everyone the chance to choose a good grain that gives freedom and brings them closer to God. What is your choice? What does your discernment process look like?

Saint from the Basque country, knight and pilgrim, apostle and mystic who sought God in his experiences with all his heart, he had an adventure in his way, which he talks about in order to better understand how our Lord dealt with this blind soul yet although animated by the great desires of serving God in a way that is already known and considered good by braces. So, he decided to practice great mortifications (…). And so, when he recalled some penance which the saints did, he decided to do it too, and even more. (…) He did not pay attention to any internal things, nor did he understand what humility or love or patience or prudence is, which guides these virtues and keeps them to the proper extent.

The aforementioned knight is Saint Ignacy Loyola (his feast is 31th July). A very real man who has various internal difficulties, including his emotions, but also a man with a great desire to seek and find God. He was not perfect, without flaws, but many times, we could say, in a foolish way, he sought the will of God. For example, during a trip to Montserrat he met Maur, with whom he talked about the virginity of Mary. He did not agree with him, he even wanted to stab him. The mule, on which he traveled, saved the case. Ignatius then said to himself: If the mule goes to the village, he will search for Maua and blow him with a dagger; if it sticks to the main road, it will leave him alone (Autobiography, p.16). Mulica stayed on the main road, so Maur survived. It was the beginnings of Ignacy’s discernment. Later, he knew that when making choices, one should not look for magical signs, or throw in more and more penance practices to win God’s friendship, but ask himself the most important questions: what more is the greater glory of God (AMDG – for greater glory of God) why I am doing something or not doing what I am using and for how much, and from what I should not use, to be closer to God (tantum quantum – as much as I can). Do not we sometimes often live in a world of our own illusions and delusions that do not bring us closer to God, but bring us nervousness and fear? These delusions, illusions may be: the more I pray, the more graces I will ask, the ones that I think are good, or the more I make mortifications, the better I will be a man, if I escaped the bus, I certainly would not go … What do you bring to your decisions and actions: greater peace or fear? Peace gives what comes from God and it is worth following. What are your illusions and delusions? Verify them, what can you change? What gives you inner peace and allows you to breathe freely?

See also – what fruits you bring? What are your desires? How does the principle ad maiorem dei gloriam work in your life: for the greater glory of God? Look today at your life, your loved ones, the world in which you live, guided by the logic of saving and reconciliation.

Remember that you are the seed God cares for each day. Every day he gives you a new chance to live more for his greater glory.

1. Kotlewski SJ, with a generous heart and a fiery Love. On the Ignatian mysticism, Rhetos, Warsaw 2005, pp. 11-12
2. Ignacy Loyola, The Tale of the Pilgrim. Autobiography., WAM, Kraków 2002, pp. 39-40

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)