Repetition of the previous texts

Why repeat? Many times it happens that, during prayer, we get an intuition or we receive some grace, but times passes and it fades away. St Ignatius speaks about repetition as a way of deepening our prayer: “I should notice and dwell on those points where I felt greater consolation or desolation, or had a greater spiritual experience.”
Therefore, today we invite you to return to two passages of your choosing that you have prayed with during this year.
Take a look at the short summaries below and try to remember which were those that touched you most in some way. You should not expect to feel the same thing as you did that time, but seek to deepen your intuition or develop the grace you received by praying with that part of the passage that touched you the most.

Repetition of one of the past reflections

1. The Annunciation (Lk 1:26-38) En / Mt

Grace to ask for: I ask for the grace of freedom from fear and a life-giving hope.

Summary: During this meditation, we reflect on our fears and hopes through Mary’s fears and hopes. We also consider how God starts changing the world through humble beginnings.

2. The Visitation (Lk 1:39-56) En / Mt

Grace to ask for: I ask for the grace to receive Mary’s inner dispositions, moving me from hesitation to immediate action in following God’s call. I pray to cultivate unwavering trust, humble service, and praise.

Summary: In this reflection, we pray with Mary, who models a heart full of humility, trust, and praise. We reflect how a deep inner life like Mary’s, compels us to look beyond ourselves even during hard times, drawing us out of self-absorption to serve others and praise God for His greatness.

3. The Nativity (Lk 2:1-20) En / Mt

Grace to ask for: I may ask to recognize and imitate the profound humility and loving action present in the ordinary moments of Jesus’ birth.

Summary: By using our imagination, we meet Jesus in the simplicity of the nativity. Becoming small and wanting for us, He inspires us to incarnate humility and poverty in the ordinary moments of our life.

4. The Shepherds (Lk 2:8–20) En / Mt

Grace to ask for: I ask for the grace to listen in the same manner as Mary did: to ponder, to trust and to hold my life prayerfully in my heart.  

Summary: We reflect on how prayerful reflection can help us internalise the experiences which we go through during the year.  Like Mary, we treasured the past, we reflected on what brings life to our life and asked where God might be asking us to listen rather than fixing things.  

5. The Presentation (Lk 2:22-40) En / Mt

Grace to ask for: I ask for the grace that my trust in God may make my hope stronger than anything that frightens me or discourages me.

Summary: We reflect on the attitude of holy trustful waiting of Simeon and Anna. We also reflect on the ambivalent nature of light: it reveals both beauty and ugliness; the good and the bad. Thus, Jesus is a sign that is opposed.

6. “Lost” in the Temple En / Mt

Grace to ask for: I ask for the grace to continuously look for Jesus with hope in my life.  

Summary: We reflect on the times in our life when we feel God is present and absent in our life and how we can continue to seek God throughout our journey, even when we do not feel him.  We also reflect that sometimes we can find out concretely what is God’s plan for us by contemplating on the circumstances that arise in our life.   

7. The Wedding at Cana (Jn 2:1-11) En / Mt

Grace to ask for: I may ask to trust in God’s bigger plans for me – not my will but God’s will in and for me (or another grace).

Summary: Mary notices the difficulty of the bridegroom and bride (no wine, no joy) and intercedes for them with her Son. She trusted Him that he will do something and tell them and us to do whatever he tells us.

8. The Crucifixion (Jn 19:25–27) En / Mt

Grace to ask for: 

• to stay close to Jesus when life feels uncertain or painful, trusting His love even when my plans fall apart. 
• to stand with courage like Mary and  receive His loving gaze as the beloved disciple.

Summary: A few weeks after Easter, we walked with Mary, the beloved disciple, and the women, who remained near Jesus in his final moments. Their courage, sorrow, and steadfast love invite us to reflect on our own lives—especially the moments when our plans fall apart and we feel lost. 

We are also invited to gaze into Jesus’ eyes as his beloved. I imagine myself standing beside Mary at the foot of the Cross. I see Jesus suffering, he looks at me with profound love.