Now the Son of Man is Glorified

Now the Son of Man is Glorified

"Now the Son of Man is Glorified" - join us in our 35th Lenten reflection for Liturgical Year I
Now the Son of Man is Glorified

Now the Son of Man is Glorified

"Now the Son of Man is Glorified" - join us in our 35th Lenten reflection for Liturgical Year I

Now the Son of Man is Glorified. If you are new to mental prayer, we invite you to visit our page on the ways of mental prayer, Don’t know how to Pray to God, to learn more.

We begin Day 35 of this Lenten prayer journey with this opening prayer :

Trust and Believe…

Lord,

I know you love me intimately. Please help me prepare my heart as I begin these 15 minutes of mental prayer with you. Lord, let me be present to you and aware of the movements of the Holy Spirit in my heart, receiving the grace you give with fidelity and piety. Lord, help me visualize you in my presence right now as I strive to complete this Lenten reflection. Let me fully contemplate the readings as I contemplate how the Son of Man is glorified. I want to follow you all the way to Calvary, Jesus, and I want to do it with my whole heart.

AMEN.

Tuesday of Holy Week (Liturgical Year I)

Now the Son of Man is Glorified

A Reflection for Prayerful Meditation

Let’s begin Day 35 of our Lenten journey as we continue traveling with Jesus in our hearts and minds toward Calvary by meditating on the daily Mass readings for today: the First Reading, the Psalms, and the Gospel Reading. As you make your self-reflection, feel free to journal your responses to the Lord. This meditation is suited for prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, but you can also pray this meditation while looking at a Crucifix or an image of Jesus that you have.

Now the Son of Man is Glorified

Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Start with Love…

Holy Spirit, 

I believe you are truly here and present to me right now. I desire to be present to you. Guide my heart and mind and show me how I might pick up my cross and follow Jesus all the way to Calvary. Help me turn my heart more fully to God so that I might better understand God’s love for me.

Breathe on me as I spend these next 15 minutes fixated on today’s Mass readings. Holy Spirit, help me pray with humility, honesty, love and affection. I want to grow in virtue and holiness

Thank you, Holy Spirit, for every consolation, desolation, time of silence, difficult trial, and temptation of the evil one. I understand that you love me and that everything in my life happens by God’s holy will, whether it be divine providence or God’s permissive will due to my sin and negligence. 

Please humble me as I walk with Jesus toward Calvary.  

AMEN.

Say Nothing Just Take Him In

Spend 1-3 minutes in silence gazing at Jesus with love and gratitude, in a prayer of silent contemplation.

I Am the Bread of Life what are the seven I Am statements of Jesus. Jesus says: I Am the Bread of Life (6:35), I Am the Light of the World (8:12), I Am the Gate (10:7), I Am the Good Shepherd (10:11, 14), I Am the Resurrection and the Life (11:25), I Am the Way the Truth and the Life (14:6) and I Am the True Vine (15:1). What is Jesus in the Eucharist and how do I adore Jesus, learn how to pray to God Jesus says “I Am the Bread of Life.” But what does it mean? What is Jesus in the Eucharist? Learn how to adore Him with prayers and meditations.

Make a Movie in Your Mind…

Now we will contemplate the First Reading. We are returning to the temple gates in Jerusalem during the reign of King Hezekiah, who is known for his efforts to restore temple worship. Isaiah is one of the Major Prophets, and he lived in Jerusalem and prophesied during the 8th century BCE. This was when the Kingdom of Judah was in its early stages and they worshipped God in the first temple built by King Solomon.

Slowly imagine this scene in your mind as you read. Isaiah is prophesying about Jesus, the coming Messiah and servant of the Lord. Think about Jesus as you read this passage, imagining him as the fulfillment of this promise.

Now the Son of Man is Glorified

I Will Make You A Light Unto the Nations

Isaiah 49:1-6

Hear me, O islands, listen, O distant peoples. The Lord called me from birth, from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.

He made of me a sharp-edged sword and concealed me in the shadow of his arm. He made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me. You are my servant, he said to me, Israel, through whom I show my glory.

Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength, Yet my reward is with the LORD, my recompense is with my God. For now the LORD has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb, That Jacob may be brought back to him and Israel gathered to him; And I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD, and my God is now my strength!

It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

Reflection:

Let us take a moment to reflect on the message in the First Reading. 

Did you envision Jesus Christ as you read this passage? What did you think of as you read each description of the servant of God? Did scenes from previous Gospel readings come to your mind? 

Now let’s personalize this passage from our First Reading…

Be Completely Real…

Contemplate the phrase “I will make you a light to the nations” and linger on it while holding an image of Jesus in your mind. Look at a picture or a crucifix and silently offer love to Jesus for this promise fulfilled. 

Speak a word of gratitude to the Eternal Father for the gift of his son. Then open your heart and offer a prayer of gratitude by remembering how Jesus has been a light to you in your own life. Ask the Holy Spirit to come and to help you remember ways the Lord has brought you into the light during a dark period. When memories surface, thank God for each one. Thank him for people who gave you the light of Christ and for times when God gave you faith and fortitude to overcome a tremendous suffering. Say to the Lord, “You have raised me up and restored me to grace. You have been a light in my life, and my strength. I love you, teach me to love so I may share your salvation with the world.”

Let us continue our mental prayer with today’s Responsorial Psalm: 

Now the Son of Man is Glorified

You Are My Hope and my Salvation

Psalms 71: 1-6, 15, 17

In you, LORD, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue and deliver me;
incline your ear to me, and save me.

Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to give me safety,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
O my God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked.

For you are my hope, O Lord;
my trust, O God, from my youth.
On you I depend from birth;
from my mother’s womb you are my strength.

My mouth shall declare your justice,
day by day your salvation.
O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.

Visualize Christ…

Next, try to put yourself in the presence of Christ by visualizing Jesus at the Last Supper. Take a moment to close your eyes and picture Jesus giving the morsel to Judas, knowing he was about to betray him. Think of a time when someone you loved betrayed you. Remember the emotions you felt? Try to remember this feeling as you read the Gospel passage for today.

Now we are ready to take our image of Jesus and visualize today’s Gospel Reading. Put yourself in this scene much like you did in the First Reading. Then prayerfully speak to Jesus about the pain of betrayal. What do you want to tell him?

Now the Son of Man is Glorified

One of You Will Betray Me

John 13:21-33, 36-38

Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, “Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”

The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant. One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus’ side. So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant. He leaned back against Jesus’ chest and said to him, “Master, who is it?”

Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it.” So he dipped the morsel and (took it and) handed it to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot. After he took the morsel, Satan entered him. So Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”

(Now) none of those reclining at table realized why he said this to him. Some thought that since Judas kept the money bag, Jesus had told him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or to give something to the poor. So he took the morsel and left at once. And it was night.

When Judas had left them, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
(If God is glorified in him,) God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him at once. My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. You will look for me, and as I told the Jews, ‘Where I go you cannot come,’ so now I say it to you.”

Simon Peter said to him, “Master, where are you going?”

Jesus answered (him), “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, though you will follow later.”

Peter said to him, “Master, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”

Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow before you deny me three times.”

Are You Listening?

When we are betrayed we often hold on to the pain and internalize it. It hardens our hearts and makes us less likely to love because we fear the pain. It is an instinct to want to protect yourself from future betrayals. But Jesus shows us a better way. 

But we know how Jesus responded to being betrayed, isolated, and abandoned by his disciples. He offered them peace and forgave them. How did they respond to this? Peter? Judas? Thomas?

Take a moment now to speak from your heart about your desire to imitate Jesus in the way he offered peace after being betrayed and abandoned. How can you offer the light of Christ to those who have hurt you and betrayed you? Have you forgiven them? Have you prayed fervently for their conversions? Have you offered Masses for them?

Finally, ask Jesus to help you love others as he does, with a servant’s heart. Tell him you want to bring his light to others.

Pray the next Lenten Meditation

Day 36 Lenten Meditation

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