O Jesus, I am a sinner. I have offended Thee, and therefore I stand in need of Thy mercy. I cannot hope to obtain it unless I myself am kind and merciful toward my neighbor, for Thou hast taught me to pray: Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." Thou dost assure me that I will be blessed if I am merciful, for Thine own mercy toward me will be the reward of my forgiving kindness to others. Intimately united with Thy loving Heart at Holy Communion, I can best learn the lesson of forgiving kindness and obtain the help I need to practice it.

O Jesus, when Thou wert about to depart from this world, Thou didst lay upon us Thy last commendation that we should love one another. "This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you." (John 15:12). Thou didst love me even unto death; "Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends.". (John 15:13). I must imitate Thine example by loving my neighbor with a supernatural love and by being kind toward him, for Thou hast said, "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another." (John 13:35).

O Jesus, I believe that Holy Communion preserves and increases this love for my neighbor. It is a Banquet of Love which Thou hast prepared for the children of God. Even the outward tokens of the Eucharist remind me of brotherly love and kindness. Many grains of wheat are ground and mingled together to make one bread, and many grapes are crushed to fill the Eucharistic chalice; similarly must we become one through love and Holy Communion. The Eucharist is the bond of charity that animates all Catholics as members of one spiritual body, the Church, even as the soul gives life to each member of the human body. Thine Apostle says: And the bread, which we break, is it not the partaking of the body of the Lord? For we, being many, are one bread, one body, all that partake of one bread." (I Cor. 10:16-17). O Jesus, Thou art that Bread in Holy Communion.

Through frequent Holy Communion, help me to carry out Thy great commandment of love for my neighbor and grant me the grace to put away all unkindness. I want to love my neighbor as myself for Thy sake. Let me respect and love him as God's image and likeness, as a child of our heavenly Father, as the temple of the Holy Spirit Thou dost love him as Thou dost love me, and Thou dost give Thyself to him in Holy Communion as Thou dost give Thyself to me. In fact, Thou dost identify Thyself with him, for Thou hast said, "As long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, yon did it to me." (Matt. 25:40). How can I disrespect one whom Thou dost respect so highly? How can I be unkind to one for whom Thou didst offer Thy life on the Cross? Let me be kind to my neighbor as I would have him be kind to me. "All things therefore whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you also to them." (Matt. 7:12). I cannot receive Thee into a heart that refuses to forgive. This would make me undeserving of Thy mercy, for Thou didst say, "Forgive, and you shall be forgiven. Give, and it shall be given to you." (Luke 6:37-38).

O Lord Jesus, grant me the grace to partake frequently of this Banquet of Love, so that the merciful love of Thine own Heart may be enkindled in mine. I have been nourished with the Flesh and Blood of Christ, the meek Lamb of God, "who, when he was reviled, did not revile." (I Peter 2:23). Let me never be carried away by anger or by any other passion. Through frequent Holy Communion give me the pure love for God and neighbor that fills Thine own Heart. I cannot love God truly, unless I also love my neighbor, nor can I love my neighbor as I ought, unless I truly love God. Increase both loves in my heart through Holy Communion. May that Divine charity be poured out upon Thy Holy Church through the Sacrament of Thy Love, so that Thy prayer at the Last Supper may be fulfilled: "That they may be one, as we also are one; I in them, and thou in me; that they may be made perfect in one." (John 17:22-23).

ARE YOU KIND?

1. Do you keep kind thoughts in your heart, and are you willing to forgive?

2. Are you in the habit of judging others harshly or speaking of their faults? Can yon see Christ in others?

3. Are you always ready to be of service to others, and do you pray for others, even for those whom you do not like?

4. Do you regard the commandment of charity as Our Lord's last will and strive to obtain the spirit of forgiving charity by receiving Holy Communion frequently?

— NOVENA PRAYER —

Aspiration for the day:My God, make us to be of one mind in the truth and of one heart in charity.
300 days. (10)