18 Oct
Thu 		St Luke, Evangelist
2 Tim. 4:10-17b
Ps. 145:10-13, 17-18
Lk. 10:1-9
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When our hearts burn with a desire to live the life of a committed Christian, we often find along with this desire, another desire — the desire for community. To work with people, to work as a team. But in working as a team we can sometimes find ourselves abandoned by team-mates along the way. At such points we can feel disappointed and miserably lonely. But just when we think all props and scaffoldings have collapsed and we begin to despair, something beautiful happens. We are given a new and wonderful insight, a fresh awakening — "I am not alone, the Lord stands by my side and gives me strength (2 Tim. 4:17)..." and right in the middle of our pain, discouragement and loneliness, our soul rises up to a new song of praise and thanksgiving. We realize that our God is one who never leaves or forsakes us. He loves us and is always with us.

In the Gospel we read "The Lord sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go" (Lk. 10:1). In conjunction with the text and remembering also today as the feast of St Luke, the evangelist, are we not also moved to ask ourselves yet another question — Are we not, each entrusted with a mission to reach out to those in need?


Lord, in and through all of our life experiences may we come to know and believe beyond doubt that You are a God who is always with us.

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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