Tag Archives: Meditation

Mary at the Cross

When we consider the passion and death of Christ on the Cross we tend to overlook the enormous suffering of his mother Mary. Because of her great love for Jesus, Mary suffered unspeakably. In this meditation we use texts from the Stabat Mater, St Josemaria and St Bernard to consider how:

  • Mary was always united with Jesus, from his birth until his death on the Cross
  • Mary suffered in her soul what Jesus suffered in his body because her heart was one with his
  • Our Lady is with us in our own crosses
  • Jesus gives us Mary to be our mother and we, like John, should take her into our heart
  • Because of her great suffering, Mary can be called truly a martyr

 

Rich in mercy

The parable of the prodigal son is mercy perosnified.

     

    The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments abound in references to God as “ever rich in mercy.” It is good to remember this, especially when we are discouraged by our sinfulness or tempted to despair of our eternal salvation. In this meditation we consider:

    • Our Lord’s incarnation and his suffering and death for our redemption
    • His will “that all be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth”
    • His forgiving of the sins of many
    • His teaching on the mercy of God
    • Pope Francis’ reminder that God will always forgive us and his exhortation to ask God for forgiveness
    • Our Lord’s sorrow at the death of Judas

    Love to the end – the virtue of generosity

    St John begins his account of  Christ’s Passion saying that “having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” Our Lord goes on to give his disciples the “new commandment” to love one another as he has loved us. We too are called to love “to the end”, beyond what comes easy, generously. In this meditation we consider:

    • Our Lady’s generosity in her visitation to Elizabeth and at Calvary
    • There is a big difference among people, some of whom are very generous and others selfish
    • After we die, people will remember us for our generosity, if we truly lived this virtue
    • Scriptural passages in which Christ and St Paul praise generosity
    • Stories of generosity
    • Ways of being generous first at home, in the family
    • Ways of living this virtue with those around us

    Sorrow of love

    We all offend God many times a day, yet we do not express our sorrow as we should. In this meditation we pray about how we can foster true contrition, sorrow of love, for our sins and failings. We consider:

    • That God truly loves each of us more than all the mothers in the world put together
    • That our sins offend God more than do the sins of others, because he has given us more grace
    • The difference between perfect contrition and imperfect contrition
    • That St Josemaria Escriva calls the act of contrition the best devotion
    • That we should say many acts of contrition each day
    • How we can foster true contrition for our sins

    Friends forever

    Everyone wants to have friends, but sometimes they choose the wrong friends and are led astray by them. We can all be the good friends others are looking for.  In this meditation we consider how:

    • Christ entered into a relationship of friendship with the apostles and he called them – and us –  his friends.
    • Friendship involves sharing one’s intimate thoughts and aspirations with others.
    • We can learn about friendship from St Gregory of Nazianzus, who describes his close friendship with St Basil.
    • True friendship involves helping others both humanly and spiritually, and ultimately leading them closer to God and to eternal life.

    Joy to the world

    Christmas is a time of great joy, joy because we celebrate the entry of Christ  into the world as our Saviour. But in a real sense, everyday is Christmas because Christ is always with us. In this meditation we consider the importance of being always cheerful, of radiating our joy to others. We consider:

    • Texts of Scripture that speak to us of the joy surrounding the birth of Christ
    • How Mary brought joy to Elizabeth and John the Baptist in her womb
    • How we find our joy “in the Lord”, as St Paul writes
    • Texts of St Josemaria, St John Chrysostom, Pope Francis and Rose Kennedy that speak of joy
    • How we can be cheerful even when we are in a bad mood, or are experiencing difficulties
    • How important it is to radiate joy to those around us

    Putting Christ back in Christmas

    Nativity scene icon

    For more and more people, Christmas is about giving gifts, bringing the family together, having parties and going on holidays. But it is not about the birth of Christ. In this meditation we pray about how we can put Christ in the centre of our life and grow in friendship with him. We consider:

    • Who Christ really is
    • Why he became flesh
    • How he came to be born in Bethlehem
    • What we learn from his birth in a stable
    • How we can grow in love for him through prayer, the Mass, reading the Scriptures, the sacraments, penance and service to others

    Prayer for the souls in Purgatory

    Some 150,000 people die each day and it is likely that most of them go to purgatory, where they are purified before entering heaven. They suffer greatly at the same time as they are very happy, since they are assured of heaven. We can help them by our prayers and good works. In this meditation we use texts from Scripture, the Catechism of the Catholic Church and St Thomas More to consider how:

    • the soul must be completely purified before it can enter heaven
    • the souls in purgatory suffer the pain of being deprived of the sight of God and of fire
    • most of the souls in purgatory probably have no one to pray for them
    • we can help them by offering our Masses, prayers, good works and indulgences for them
    • if we have devotion to the holy souls, they will pray for us and perhaps we can avoid going to purgatory ourselves

    Save us from the fires of hell

     

    In this meditation we continue our journey through the Last Things,  praying today about hell. Hell is a reality and if we pray about it from time to time we are most unlikely to end up there. But God needs us to help others avoid hell too. In this meditation we use texts from Scripture, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and the writings of saints like St John Vianney to consider:

    • Christ’s teaching on hell
    • God’s mercy and desire to save all souls
    • That those who go to hell choose it by failing to repent of their serious sins
    • The vision of hell seen by the three children at Fatima
    •  How we can avoid hell and help others to do so

    Preparing for the judgment

    In the moment of our death we will undergo a particular judgment which will decide whether we go to hell, purgatory or immediately to heaven. The judge will be Jesus himself, the Son of Man and his judgment will be just as well as merciful. In this meditation we consider how:

    • we should not care about how others judge us
    • pride colours our judgment about ourselves
    • in the particular judgment we will be judged on how we made use of the many gifts God has given us
    • we can prepare for the judgment by being very sincere in our prayer, our daily examination of conscience and in spiritual direction