Mental Prayer for April 20 - Coming to Life Again

Mental Prayer Meditation Helps

Presence of God

Grace I Ask: Lord, help me see the need for contrition and confession and the grace to use them when I need them.

The Idea: The dead branch and the withered rose blossom cannot come to life again except in the imagination. But the soul in mortal sin­ - can it come to life again? Does God give it another chance to take its place and do its work in the Mystical Christ? - the work of sharing in the life of sanctifying grace and showing forth Christ to all men.

We know that God does give it another chance. He has told us many times and in many different ways that He forgives our sins and gives us His life again. Sorrow, contrition, and confession are the ordinary way we can get the Christ-life again after we have sinned. When the priest acting as Christ Himself says, "I absolve you," the soul that was dead comes to life, stands straight and proud, ready with the life of Christ to take up its work as a living member of the Mystical Body.

My Personal Application: Some Catholics are afraid of the confessional because they see only the unpleasant side of having to confess their failures to a human being, even though he is acting as Christ. They fail to see the deeper meaning, the deeper result. We normally feel stronger and healthier after going to confession. That is only an indication of what happens inside the soul that has been restored to sanctifying grace. How do I regard confession?

I Speak to God: Lord, help me to realize that con­fession not only helps the soul in mortal sin but also all other men, for that soul is once again a live member of Christ's Mystical Body.

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)