Preparatory Prayer (to put myself in God’s presence)

Lord, I believe that You are present in the Eucharist, willing to enrich my hunger and thirst with Your marvelous grace. I believe in You, I hope in You, and I love You. You took the first step of love toward me; today I want to respond to You in the same way.

Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)

From the holy Gospel according to Matthew 14:13-21
At that time, when Jesus heard about John the Baptist’s death, He got into a boat and went to a deserted place by Himself. When the people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the towns. When Jesus disembarked, He saw the great crowd, felt compassion for them, and healed their sick.

As it was already late, His disciples approached Him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; give them something to eat.” They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” He said, “Bring them here to Me.”

Then He ordered the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples to distribute to the crowd. They all ate and were satisfied, and the leftovers filled twelve baskets. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, not counting women and children.

The Word of the Lord.

Reflect on what God is saying to you in the Gospel (we suggest you read what the Pope said)

Christ present among us, in the sign of bread and wine, demands that the power of love surpass every wound, and at the same time become communion with the poor, supported by the weak, fraternal attention to those who find it difficult to bear the weight of daily life.

We disintegrate when we are not docile to the Word of the Lord, when we do not live fraternity among ourselves, when we compete to occupy the first places, when we lack the courage to testify to charity, when we are not capable of offering hope. The Eucharist allows us not to disintegrate because it is a bond of communion, it is the fulfillment of the Covenant, a living sign of Christ’s love, which humbled Himself and sacrificed Himself so that we might remain united. Participating in the Eucharist and nourishing ourselves from it, we are on a path that admits no divisions. (Cf Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis, June 4, 2015, in 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 is asking of you, live what is suggested below.

Make a visit to Christ in the Eucharist, preferably accompanied by a family member.

“And yet it remains true that ‘man does not live on bread alone.’ The human person has a need that is even deeper, a hunger greater than that which bread can satisfy: it is the hunger that the human heart has for the vastness of God.”

(Saint John Paul II, Homily, 16-11-1981).