Mental Prayer for April 28, The Catholic and the Mystical Christ

Mental Prayer Meditation Helps

Presence of God.

Grace I Ask: Lord, what place do I as a Catholic have in the Mystical Body? Help me to see it and live it.

The Idea: What about me, a Catholic? By my Baptism in Christ and my devotion to His Mother I am very closely united to Christ. I have a special place in the Mystical Body. As a member of the Body of Christ I can do more to build up the Body of the Mystical Christ. And since I can, I should. This is the real point of all I've been meditating about: I have a special responsibility to show forth Christ by becoming united to Him more and more closely and making His ways my ways. If I do not live and act as a member of the Mystical Body, I am letting Christ down. He has given me the opportunity to become a Catholic because he wants to come to men in a special way through me. How am I to live up to my respon­sibility? By living my faith as fully as I can.

My Personal Application: Have I ever gone through the teachings of the Church and tried to see how each one of them, in a definite way, helps form me to be more Christlike? Why don't I do that today? Have I ever stopped to realize that just by living as Christ and His Church teach me, as completely as possible, I am building up Christ's Mystical Body by showing forth Christ in my life?

I Speak to God: Lord, I see more clearly now how living the life of a faithful member of Your Church - really living it - fits into your work of making men - all of them­ - saints.

Thought for Today: I am Christ to the men of my times.
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Adapted from Mental Prayer, Challenge to the Lay Apostle
by The Queen's Work,(© 1958)