Tomorrow, October 28, 2018, the Pauline Family celebrates the Feast of Jesus, the Divine Master, Way, Truth, and Life. We’d like to invite you to celebrate with us by sharing with you a Holy Hour of Adoration—which our Founder encouraged us to call our daily “visit with Jesus.” We pray that all of us may enter more fully into our relationship with Christ who truly is the Way, Truth, and Life for each of us and for all of humanity.
Visit with Jesus, the Divine Master*
Pray three times:
O Jesus Truth, sanctify my mind and increase my faith.
Consciously place yourself in God’s presence. Call to mind any intentions that you have for this Visit with Jesus. Spend a few moments in silent adoration.
Opening Prayer:
I believe, my God, that I am in your presence,
that you are looking at me and listening to my prayers.
You are so great and so holy; I adore you.
You have given me all; I thank you.
You have been so offended by me; I ask your pardon with all my heart.
You are so merciful; I ask of you all the graces which you know are beneficial to me.
Scripture Reading: John 14:1-14
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.”
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.”
Read the passage a few times, slowly and reflectively. Spend time with it; place yourself in it; speak to Jesus about it; be silent with it. What is the Word saying to you?
Prayer after the reading:
Jesus, Divine Master, you have words of eternal life.
I believe, O Lord and Truth, but increase my faith.
I love you, O Lord and Way, with all my strength,
because you have commanded us to observe your commandments perfectly.
I pray to you, O Lord and Life.
I adore you, I praise you, I beseech you, and I thank you
for the gift of Sacred Scripture.
With Mary, I shall remember and preserve your words in my mind
and I shall meditate on them in my heart.
Jesus Master, Way and Truth and Life, have mercy on us.
Pray three times:
O Jesus, Way between the Father and us, I offer you all and await all from you.
Blessed James Alberione says, “The examination of conscience is like an attentive gaze fixed on Jesus Master.” Ask the Holy Spirit to help you fix your gaze on Jesus as you prepare to review your day so far.
Prayer:
Divine Holy Spirit, eternal Love of the Father and of the Son,
I adore you, I thank you, I love you,
and I ask pardon for all the times I have grieved you.
To you, sanctifying Spirit, I consecrate my will.
Guide me in your will,
sustain me in the observance of the commandments, in the fulfillment of my duties.
Grant me the gift of fortitude. Amen.
Spend some time looking over your day. With Jesus, gaze at your life. Allow him to show you what he wants you to see. After you’ve spent some time in quiet reflection with the Lord, you may wish to journal about the following questions:
- How has Jesus been present to me today?
- How have I been present to him?
- What graces do I want to give thanks for?
- What do I want to surrender to the Lord’s mercy?
Prayer:
Your mercy is infinite; I will never be able to fully understand it.
I want to adore rather than examine your mercy.
How is it that you chose me, a small creature, a great sinner?
I am a miracle of God!
Your call of the twelve apostles transformed them;
your call to me has made me a new person.
I am immersed in Christ: his interests are my interests; his teaching, my teaching.
My life is that of Christ.
I carry out his actions, or better, he carries them out in me. Amen.
Pray three times:
O Jesus Life, live in me, so that I may live in you.
At this moment, ask for the grace you need to live the rest of your day with Jesus. Ask for grace, help, light, peace for others, too. You are their representative before Jesus. Express your needs and their needs to Jesus. Spend some time in intercessory prayer.
Pray: The Fifth Luminous Mystery of the Rosary—The Institution of the Eucharist
Blessed James Alberione wrote, “In the Eucharist, Jesus becomes our nourishment, so that his divine Heart may assimilate ours and make it one with his.” Offer this decade of the rosary for all the intentions you bring to this Visit with Jesus, and in order that little by little you may live more in union with Jesus Master.
Our Father….
Hail Mary…. (10 times)
Glory Be….
In the last moments of your Visit with Jesus, make a spiritual communion—unite yourself with Jesus and ask to remain with him throughout your day. Perhaps you may wish to use this spiritual communion suggested by Blessed Timothy Giaccardo, Society of St. Paul, the first of the Pauline Family to be beatified, who described making a spiritual communion this way: “Jesus Master! This simple expression, pronounced as an invocation, is the formula of spiritual communion through which Jesus gives himself to us and we give ourselves to Jesus!”
Closing Prayer:
Jesus Master, sanctify my mind and increase my faith.
Jesus, teaching in the Church, draw everyone to your school.
Jesus Master, deliver me from error, from vain thoughts, and from eternal darkness.
Jesus, Way between the Father and us, I offer you all and await all from you.
Jesus, Way of sanctity, make me your faithful imitator.
Jesus Way, render me perfect as the Father who is in heaven.
Jesus Life, live in me, so that I may live in you.
Jesus Life, do not permit me to separate myself from you.
Jesus Life, grant that I may live eternally in the joy of your love.
Jesus Truth, may I be light for the world.
Jesus Way, may I be example and model for souls.
Jesus Life, may my presence bring grace and consolation everywhere. Amen.
*All prayers are by Blessed James Alberione, Founder of the Pauline Family.