Shalom

11 Dec Tue	2nd Week of Advent St Damasus I, pope
	Is. 40:1-11 Ps. 96:1-3, 10-13 Mt. 18:12-14

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The voice of the prophet Isaiah cries out: "Prepare the way of the Lord." The voice of God says: "Comfort, O comfort my people." In this passage, one of the most famous and beautiful in the entire Bible, we are exhorted to stand up and tell the world of our God. Yet who is this God to whom and for whom we lift up our voices? The image that comes forth most strongly in Isaiah and in the Gospel is that of a shepherd. And who is this shepherd? He is one who carries us, like tiny lambs, in his arms; he is one in whom we can put all our trust. Advent is a time of waiting. It is also a time of preparation for the one who himself came to us like a tiny lamb; one who was both the flower that fades and the word of God who stands forever. Jesus the Christ. Who is this God? Who is this shepherd? How can we prepare the way for Him?

"Get you up to a high mountain, Zion, herald of good tidings."

DAILY OFFERING

Eternal Father, I offer You everything I do this day; my thoughts, words, joys and sufferings. Grant that, vivified by the Holy Spirit and united to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, my life this day may be of service to You and to others. I also pray that all those preparing for marriage discover in Sacrament the source of Christ's grace for living a fithful and fruitful love. Amen.

PRAYING WITH THE CHURCH

INTENTION
That Christians may free themselves from the subtle forms of cultural conditioning which prevent them from recognising the dignity and rights of others
Elaboration

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P R A Y I N G W I T H T H E C H U R C H

INTENTION :	That Christians may free themselves from the subtle forms of cultural conditioning which prevent them from recognising the dignity and rights of others
Our vocation and mission as Christians is to bring the light of Christ to the world in order to preserve the world from corruption by permeating it with the values of the Gospel. We need, ourselves, first and foremost to be enlightened by Christ. We do not generate light, we only refract, reflect and radiate. It is His light that we must cast on the world. The more transparent our lives are with the values of the Gospel, the better is the light of Christ reflected and the less we are seen. The world in which we live is mixed with wheat and weeds. There is good and evil. Consumerism is but the logical sequence of a materialistic way of life. Spiritual values are forgotten. Our wants are made to appear as our needs and we are forced to get so immersed in the joys of this world as to forget the joys of the world to come. We are admonished to be aware lest we be trapped by these and other forms of cultural conditioning that mark this world. Awareness is the first step to change. We pray that this awareness may help us to be delivered from the cultural conditioning that hinders and hampers our vision and prevents us from recognising the dignity and the rights of others.
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