Petition: My Lord and God, make my heart burn with love for souls. 

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. Then the King will say to those at his right hand, Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.

Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, teach me to see and serve you in others.  Fill my heart with your boundless love so that I never calculate my surrender to the needs of souls.  May my deeds overflow with true charity.  Inflame the desires of my heart to center totally on you, O Lord, and the souls you so dearly love. 

1. "Come, you whom my Father has blessed."

What a beautiful judgment to hear at the end of my life! Lord, how I long to be one of your blessed ones. And how do I achieve this lofty status?  By my love for others, by the charity I practice to others.  To reach heaven I do not need to build a fortune, acquire fame or amass great knowledge.  I only have to love you, O Lord, and the souls you love. 

There are only two things I take with me to heaven: what I did for God and what I did for souls.  So many of us, however, live for the riches and empty dreams of the world.  Teach me, Lord, to live for love.  I want to serve you in the needs of those around me.  I want to spend my life for you and souls.  In this way, I will come to meet you at my judgment with my whole life testifying to charity. 

2. "Lord, when did we see you?"

Jesus, you show me that holiness is within my grasp.  To be a saint, I dont have to give my body over to martyrdom or be a great doctor of the Church.  I just have to give over my heart to the immediate needs of those around me.  Giving a drink to the thirsty, feeding the hungry, visiting the sick.  These are ordinary means that we can fulfill every day at home, school, work, and with my friends.  Yet these seemingly trivial matters of charity are the means to sanctity and heaven.  May I never consider it a waste to invest my time in any act of charity, no matter how insignificant.  May I never calculate my generosity, but give without measure to the needs of souls.  Whatever inspirations you move my heart to do, let me never be too busy to make time for charity.

3. "You did it to me."

Charity is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1822). Charity serves Christ who lives in our neighbor.  How great it is that you find our hearts a fitting abode in which to dwell!  Let me never forget that you also dwell within the hearts of those around me. 

My children, our love is not to be just words or mere talk, but something real and active; only by this can we be certain that we are children of the light (1 John 3:18). Love must be real.  Lord, your love was so real that you became man for me and died for my sins on the cross.  This is what love really is: self-donation.  I want my love to be real by dying each day to my own selfishness and living to serve you, O Lord. Real love follows under the shadow of the cross.  This is hard.  Charity is not for the comfortable or weak of heart.  Yet sacrifice is the proof of my love, that my love is real.  Whatever you ask of me Lord, whatever act of charity, whatever direction in my life, whatever cross you ask me to bear, is not enough.  I want to spend my entire life for you so that I can spend eternity with you.

Questionnaire:

1. What are the greatest needs of souls that I see around me? What are the greatest needs of the world?

2. How am I answering those needs?  What does Christ want me to do with my life to solve them?

3. How can my daily acts of charity increase, doing these as a means to serve Jesus?