Shalom

27 Oct Sat	29th Week in Ordinary Time
	Rom. 8:1-11 Ps. 24:1-6 Lk. 13:1-9

How To Pray With Shalom

Home Page of Shalom

Index of This Month

St Paul in the first reading of our liturgy today gives us, Christians, the reason to be optimist in our life. We have been made free from sin and death by the law of the Spirit, which creates in us a new life. What the old Jewish law could not do, has been made possible by the action of God, our Father, who sent His Son into our human condition and has sanctified us by making possible the life of the Spirit in us. This is why our happiness and fulfillment will depend on our following Jesus Christ and living the life of the Spirit.

But it seems that we live in times full of disgrace, cataclysms, wars, etc which may be signs of the action of the devil in our world. These times may appear to be times of punishment; but they may be also times for growth, when we can practise love, care, and work for those who suffer. These times are times to grow in the true life of the Spirit: love, sacrifice, and commitment to and for others. These are still times to practise and live the fruits of the Spirit. This is what St Luke seems to invite us to do: "Let us cultivate the ground of our life and activities, fertilize it with our prayers and work for others ... and our life will bear the true fruit."

Lord, we are not in the flesh, but we are in the Spirit, because the Spirit dwells in us, help us to live this life for You and for others.

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

- END -

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.
- END -