14 Nov
Wed
32nd Week in Ordinary Time
Wis. 6:1-11
Ps. 82:3-4, 6-7
Lk. 17:11-19
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Problems and crises test our faith. We obviously turn to God most fervently during these times when all other solutions are exhausted and a miracle seems to be the only option left. We bargain and make all kinds of promises to God with the hope that our prayers will somehow be answered.

Ironically, we forget so easily when things have returned to normalcy. Some would say that it is the very condition of humans to forget. The Arabic word for 'man' is a derivative from the same root as that of the word 'forget'. Yet, what marks humans off from other creatures is our very ability to remember, and not only to remember but to give meaning to our memories.

In today's Gospel, the leper who returned to Jesus did that - he remembered that it was Jesus who had cured him, and this memory and the meaning which the man had accorded to it moved him to return and prostrate himself at the feet of Jesus with faith and genuine thanksgiving. It is faith that helps us to make that leap of meaning from merely viewing something as mundane to recognizing the same as a God-event. Without a faith response, it is so easy to forget and lose purpose, as did the other nine lepers.



Lord, help us to remember the times You have touched our lives through events, persons and experiences and give us a grateful heart to render thanks.

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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