16 Mar
Fri
2nd Week of Lent
Gen. 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28
Ps. 105:16-21
Mt. 21:33-43, 45-46
How To Pray With Shalom
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     There is an old saying that God can write straight with crooked lines. It is a comment which fits the story of Joseph. Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery and he was as good as dead. As he was led away to Egypt Joseph did not in any way realize how God would use that evil deed to save his brothers and their families from starvation.

     The same comment can be made about today's parable. The son murdered by the tenant farmers represents Jesus. The death of Jesus brought in the grace of His heavenly inheritance to the whole world. Yes, God used and uses the malice of some men to bring supreme good to all humankind.

     We, sometimes wonder where God's plan is to be found. We see natural disasters, riots and war. In our own personal lives we experience sickness, sufferings and frustrations. Like Joseph, we cannot see why God allows and tolerates all these evils. But we must never be fooled into suspecting that God has lost control of human affairs or that evil has become so powerful that God cannot draw good from it. God can prevent all evil and in His supreme wisdom for His own good reasons He has chosen to write straight with crooked lines.
    

     Thank You Lord for taking up the Cross to redeem us. Help us not to fear, but to trust You in all of life's storms. 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, with the committed help of all believers, the scourge of poverty may come to an end, eliminating the intolerable social and economic inequality in the world
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, with the committed help of all believers, the scourge of poverty may come to an end, eliminating the intolerable social and economic inequality in the world

One might also say that poverty is the negation of economic and social rights and that the poor who suffer from absolute poverty are denied the most fundamental right which is the right to life. The international community too is becoming progressively more aware of the gravity of the problem and has declared solemnly to fight and reduce extreme poverty by 2015. Besides, how can we not realise the situation growing worse in spite of the increase in available resources.

The problem of unequal distribution of resources in its correct setting is an ethical one, since it is a problem of justice: the poor are in the first place victims of injustice. In the era of globalisation we can no longer tolerate a world in which the very rich live side by side with the poor, the property less who lack even the essentials with people who shamelessly waste what others desterately need. One of the more evident worrying consequences of this phenomenon is in fact the progressive increase instead of the decrease of inequalities, in both poor countries and rich countries, and between the North and South.

Let us pray that the scourge of poverty may come to an end




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