2 Oct
Tue 		Holy Guardian Angels
Ex. 23:20-23
Ps. 91:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 10-11
Mt. 18:1-5, 10
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God promises to send an angel before the Israelites to protect and guide them. This celebration reminds us in a vivid and perhaps sentimental way of the reality and intimacy of God's presence. As God dwelt with and led the people in the Scriptures, so God remains with us now.

Jesus assures His disciples that they must become like little children if they wish to enter the kingdom of God. It is a call to an innocence and purity of faith that children possess but which adults sometimes find so hard to maintain. It is the faith of the childlike that God holds most dear.

To reflect on and profess belief in Guardian Angels may seem childish and embarrassing to adults. But this celebration reminds us of the promise of God's abiding presence, protecting and leading. It is a profession of our faith that we are never truly alone: God is ever with us.


Lord, may the Holy Angels protect us always from evil.

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 we may recognise and revere the cultural and spiritual riches of the different ethnic groups and religious minorities present in every country.
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 we may recognise and revere the cultural and spiritual riches of the different ethnic groups and religious minorities present in every country.

This month we are invited to give thanks to God for the variety of gifts he has given to humankind. There is hardly a country in the world today which is not marked by the coming together of different cultural traditions. It ought to be recognised that religion has influenced cultures and is the soul of a particular culture. Vatican II also mentions the good that is to be found in the rites and customs of peoples, recognising this as having been sown by God's Word (LG 17). In fact, Christians belong to many different cultures which have been deeply marked by the Christian faith.

In order to appreciate these cultural and religious riches we are called to make an effort to understand and appreciate all that is good in another person and in that person's culture. We are invited to look upon our fellow human beings with the eyes of God who created man in his own image and likeness and who saw all that he had made and found it very good. We are therefore encouraged to consider prayerfully how God is at work in all peoples.

In this context our prayer will be that the ongoing dialogue between the Gospel message and cultures may produce fruits of true freedom, joy and peace for the whole of humanity.



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