27Sep
Thu
25th Week in Ordinary Time
St Vincent de Paul, priest
Hag. 1:1-8
Ps. 149:1-6, 9
Lk. 9:7-9
How To Pray With Shalom
Home Page of Shalom
Index of This Month
 

It is so easy to put off doing the work of God: The time is not right; after the holidays; after the exam; when this job is finished. Somehow, the day never comes and the urgency fades away. Haggai finds the same behaviour among his people. They have placed their physical well-being before God. Somehow, they are never happy or satisfied. There is a gnawing emptiness, for despite their prosperity, something vital is missing. That something is God. Put God first, and we will have both happiness and our material needs. This principle runs like a golden thread throughout the bible, from Genesis to Revelation. God must be the very centre of our lives.

One cannot kill an idea, especially if it comes from God. In his fear, Herod tried to wipe out what he believed to be a threat to his power and prestige. But God's cause continued, and now Herod was even more agitated. We might lash out at something we don't quite understand. Perhaps we are fearful of the changes new ideas might bring about. If it is from God, it will continue. Far better to leave behind our fear, and be one of those bearing God's desire for human progress and change.



Lord, I desire to place You and Your Way at the centre of my life.

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 the adolescents and young people of the third millennium may discover a profound ideal to devote themselves to.
Elaboration

- END -









P R A Y I N G    W I T H    T H E    C H U R C H    

INTENTION : That the adolescents and young people of the third millennium may discover a profound ideal to devote themselves to.

"Lord Jesus, you have made these young people your friends; keep them for ever close to you! Amen." This closing prayer of John Paul II at the Mass in Korazim in the Holy Land last year indicates the deep concern he has for the youth of the third millennium.

At the Mount of Beatitudes, the Holy Father looked down on the assembled youth and said, "How may generations before us have been deeply moved by the Sermon on the Mount! How many young people down the centuries have gathered around Jesus to learn the words of eternal life, as you are gathered here today! It is wonderful that you are here!"

The ideal the Holy Father proposes to the youth of today is that they look at Jesus, who embodies the Beatitudes. They will see what it means to be poor in spirit, gentle and merciful, to mourn, to care for what is right, to be pure in heart, to make peace, to be persecuted. He challenges them to go out into the world and preach the message of the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes which speak of truth and goodness, and grace and freedom: of all that is necessary to enter Christ's Kingdom. Now it is their turn to be courageous apostles of that kingdom.




- END -