In the name of the Father, unto the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me.

I adore you with profound reverence.

I ask your pardon from my sins

and the grace to make this time of prayer fruitful.

My immaculate mother, St. Joseph, my father and Lord,

my guardian angel, intercede for me.

We turn to these blessed times of prayer in order to get to know the master better and in so doing to discover his will for us.

The Lord loves to stir up the waters, or as Pope Francis likes to say, to unsettle us.

Jesus says to us every time we listen to him,

if only you knew the gift of God and who it is who is speaking to you.

Right now we ask Him, we ask you, Lord, to launch us into the orbit of your designs for our life, to launch us into that orbit

in which we seek genuine sanctity. There is a secret ingredient that gives to our spiritual

life tremendous dynamism.

An ingredient that keeps us youthful, supple, and approachable.

Surprisingly, that secret ingredient is contrition.

Contrition plays an important role in this ongoing process of shaking things up, of renewing our request for holiness.

As Pope Francis put it, let us allow his words to unsettle us,

to challenge us to demand a real change in the way we live.

Otherwise, holiness will remain no more than an empty word.

How many times we have considered that stunning scene,

that moment of conversion for Simon Peter,

...