Wednesday, September 16 – How Do I Want to Be Saved?
Saints Cornelius, Pope, and Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs.
Preparatory Prayer (to place myself in God’s presence)
Lord, send your Holy Spirit to illuminate my prayer. I do not want you to ever leave my heart, because without You my life would be dark and full of confusion. With You, everything is light; by your immense mercy, my mind and will find the direction that my life should take today: the one You desire!
Gospel of the Day (to guide your meditation)
From the holy Gospel according to Luke 7:31-35
At that time, Jesus said: “To whom shall I compare the men of this generation? What are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another:
‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a lament, and you did not cry.’
For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you said: ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say: ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by all her children.”
Word of the Lord.
Reflect on what God is telling you in the Gospel (we suggest you read what the Pope said).
And thus, the intense dialogues of Jesus with the leadership of his time are understood: they argue, test him, set traps to see if he falls, because it is about resisting salvation. Jesus tells them: “But I do not understand you,” and points out that they are “like children: we sounded the flute and you did not dance; we mourned and you did not cry. But what do you want? We want to be saved in the way we like!” This is always the closing of God’s world.
On the other hand, the ‘believing people’ who understand and accept the salvation brought by Jesus. Salvation that, on the contrary, for the leaders of the people, was essentially reduced to fulfilling the 613 precepts created by their intellectual and theological fever.
They do not believe in mercy or forgiveness: they believe in sacrifices. Mercy is what is needed, not sacrifices. They want everything to be well arranged, well ordered, everything clear. This is the drama of resistance to salvation. We, too, each of us, have this drama within ourselves.
But it will do us good to ask ourselves: How do I want to be saved? My way? With a spirituality that is good, that does me good, but that is fixed, everything clear, with no risk? Or in the divine way, that is, in the way of Jesus, who always surprises us, who always opens the doors to that mystery of God’s omnipotence, which is mercy and forgiveness. It will do us good to think that this drama is in our hearts. (Cf Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis, October 3, 2014, at Santa Marta).
Dialogue with Christ
This is the most important part of your prayer, prepare to speak with much love to the One who loves you.
Purpose
Set a personal goal, what? The one that involves the most love… or, if you believe it is what God asks of you, live what is suggested below.
Today I will strive to perceive the needs of another person, someone in particular. Then I will try to do what I can to help them, if possible, as Christ would, without drawing attention.
“Anyone who preaches to receive praise or reward, undoubtedly deprives themselves of eternal reward.”
(Saint Gregory the Great, Homily 17 on the Gospels)
