In the name of the Father and of 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 for 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.

In our prayer, we open the pages of the gospel

in order to learn from people who embody certain virtues,

such as fortitude and magnanimity.

One of the more charming scenes of the New Testament is that moment when Jesus was approached by the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

As St. Matthew tells us,

the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons.

And kneeling before him, she asked him for something.

He said to her, what do you want? She said to him, command that these two

sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom. It's easy to

imagine the look of amazement, of amusement in the eyes of the Lord.

He was totally charmed by the insistence, by the loyalty, and the faith of this woman.

So then Jesus turned to the two of them, James and John, and said to them,

you do not know what you are asking.

Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?

We picture these two, these two young men.

James, maybe he was all of 20- 21, and his brother John, a teenager.

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