Presentation of the Most Holy Virgin Mary
Preparatory Prayer (to place myself in God’s presence)
Lord, I believe in You, trust in Your immense mercy, and love You above all things. That is why I begin this moment of prayer with great longing, which will illuminate the path that today can lead me to grow in love and service to others.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the holy Gospel according to Luke 20:27-40
At that time, some Sadducees approached Jesus. Since the Sadducees deny the resurrection of the dead, they asked Him: “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies leaving a wife but no children, his brother must marry the widow to raise up descendants for him. There were seven brothers; the first married and died without leaving children. The second, the third, and the others, up to the seventh, married the widow, and all died without leaving children. Finally, the woman also died. Now, when the resurrection occurs, of which of them will she be wife? For all seven had her as wife.”
Jesus told them: “In this life, men and women marry; but in the future life, those judged worthy of it and of the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, because they will be like the angels and children of God, since they will have been resurrected.”
And that the dead are resurrected, Moses himself demonstrates in the episode of the burning bush, when he calls the Lord, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob. For God is not a God of the dead, but of the living, for to Him all are alive.”
Then some scribes said to Him: “Teacher, you have spoken well.” And from that moment, they dared not ask Him anything else.
Word of the Lord.
Reflect on what God tells you in the Gospel (we suggest you read what the Pope said)
“Jesus, always gentle and patient, indicates as the first thing that life after death does not have the same parameters as earthly life. Eternal life is another life, in another dimension, in which, among other things, marriage will no longer exist, as it is related to our existence in this world. The resurrected — Jesus says — will be like the angels and will live in a state that we cannot now feel or imagine. And this is how Jesus explains it.
But then, so to speak, He shifts to the counterattack. And He does so by citing the Holy Scriptures, with a simplicity and originality that fill us with love for our Master, the only Master!
The proof of the resurrection, Jesus finds in the episode of Moses and the burning bush, where God reveals Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The name of God is linked to the names of the men and women with whom He relates, and this connection is stronger than death. And we can say this about God’s relationship with us. He is our God; He is the God of each one of us; as if He carried our name, He likes to say, and this is the Covenant.”
This is why Jesus affirms: ‘God is not of the dead but of the living, so that everyone may live in Him.” This is a definitive connection; the fundamental covenant is that with Jesus; He Himself is the Covenant, He Himself is Life and Resurrection, because with His crucified love He has conquered death.
In Jesus, God gives us eternal life, He gives it to all of us, and thanks to Him, everyone has the hope of a life even truer than the current one.
The life that God prepares for us is not a simple embellishment of the current one: it surpasses our imagination because God continually amazes us with His love and mercy” (Angelus of His Holiness Francis, November 10, 2013).
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 one. The one that involves the most love in response to the Beloved… or, if you believe it is what God asks of you, live what is suggested below.
I will pray a rosary at some point during the day to renew my faith in Christ, in my Most Holy Mother, and in the eternal life that is promised to me.
