14 Jan
Sun
2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)
Is. 62:1-5
Ps. 96:1-2, 2-3, 7-8, 9-10
1 Cor. 12:4-11
Jn. 2:1-11
How To Pray With Shalom
Home Page of Shalom
Index of This Month
 
     A wedding is a time of celebration, joy and love. It speaks of hope and promises to keep. The wedding scene in today's Gospel tells us a great deal about Jesus and what He expects of us. Jesus is a joyful man and a joy giver. He changed the water into wine to make the people happy. The water becoming wine is an indication of what should take place in our hearts. Our bland, too safe life should be replaced by a life in which the Spirit gives life in abundance.

    To celebrate means freeing ourselves to accept life in all its forms with courage and joy. Hope and not despair should be at the centre of our daily living. The reason for Jesus' ability to celebrate in the face of death is His total trust in God. This does not mean that rejection, loneliness, suffering and death will not come. It means they can be freely accepted and be offered to God. God loves and cares for us. We are no longer "Forsaken" and "Desolate", we are called "my Delight" and "Expoused". Hence let us offer everything to God including our lives.



     Lord in time of sadness and pain who else can I turn to except You? for I know You love me and I place all my trust in You. Amen.
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 favour the evangelisation of the new generations through the constant search for the unity wanted by Christ.
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 favour the evangelisation of the new generations through the constant search for the unity wanted by Christ.

The question of full Christian unity and evangelisation led to the beginnings of the ecumenical movement. The Holy Father decries the negative consequences of division among Christians and calls them to search for full Christian Unity as inspired by the Lord's Prayer. As evangelisers we must offer Christ's faithful an image of people who are mature in faith and capable of finding a meeting point beyond all tensions. The destiny of evangelisation is bound up with the witness of unity given to the Church.

The urgency of preaching and displaying unity to the world arises from the fact that Christians can impair the vitality of proclaiming the Gospel and even become a scandal to the world, particularly when the churches appear to proclaim "a kingdom against itself". It is clear that the proclamation of the Gospel by divided Christians becomes counter- itness.

As Christians we ought to give collaborative common witness which is founded in the common baptism in Christ and faith in the Triune God. Pray for the courage to work positively with other Christians for the purpose of promoting evangelisation.




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