6 Nov
Tue
31st Week in Ordinary Time
Rom. 12:5-16a
Ps. 131:1-3
Lk. 14:15-24
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Today's parable was prompted by the remark of a guest at table who said, "Happy is he who eats bread in the kingdom of God." It was a very true statement but Jesus sensed an underlying presumption that the speaker automatically included himself. However, Jesus is throwing a banquet to which He has been inviting people to join. It is an invitation to join Him in establishing that Kingdom. But many of those listening find excuses not to go. So, people regarded as outsiders are invited instead. They include religious outsiders, the poor, the blind and the lame - people often seen as abandoned by God. To go back to the beginning of the passage, blessed indeed are those who eat together in the Kingdom but only those who respond to the invitation will enjoy the privilege.

We have no more right to presume than those Jews who rejected Christ. We too are being invited to go into the Lord's banquet hall but it is important that we respond to the call. We do that by totally accepting and living out the teaching of Jesus our Lord. It is not something that we can take for granted.



O Lord, never let me take my Christian faith for granted. May I never be deaf to Your call as it comes to me in the many people and experiences of my day.

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 holy and exemplary men and women may be our companions in proclaiming boldly the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.
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 holy and exemplary men and women may be our companions in proclaiming boldly the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.

"They began to proclaim the word of God boldly" (Acts 4:31). The word "boldly" can also be translated as "audaciously" or with "forthrightness" in announcing the Christian message. The ideal agents of evangelisation should be "holy and exemplary persons". Though God could have spread His Kingdom without human collaboration, He has always sought human partners, who as suitable and free instruments, work for the salvation of humankind.

The laity can evangelise chiefly through prayer, the testimony of life and the establishment of a temporal order inspired by the Gospel. Though preaching the Gospel is the competence and principal duty of those who have been ordained, lay people, who have the necessary theological training, can preach.

Vatican II stresses the need for priests to be holy preachers. God ordinarily prefers to show his wonders through those men who are more submissive to the impulse and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Because of their intimate union with Christ and their holiness of life, they are able to say with St Paul: "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me" (Gal. 2:20). Let us therefore pray that all those who devote themselves directly to evangelisation may live a holy life that emphasises the credibility of the Christian message.




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