25 May
Sat 		7th Week in Ordinary Time
James 5:13-20
Ps. 140:1-3,8
Mk. 10:13-16
How To Pray With Shalom
Home Page of Shalom
Index of This Month
 

Why did Jesus' disciples try to stop people from bringing their little children to Jesus for Him to touch? (Mk. 10). Maybe they thought those mothers were being a bit too superstitious? Or maybe they thought the children would be annoying Jesus, or preventing Him from His "serious" work? Perhaps they thought they were "protecting" Jesus? They had no doubt good intentions, yet Jesus was indignant at what they were doing, missing an important point about His work and actually preventing people from approaching Him. But He turned the occasion into a lesson about God's work and His Kingdom which, He said, properly belongs to such as those children. It's a lesson each new generation needs to relearn, because we keep on thinking that we know best how God's kingdom should be served, how God should behave, who are the people He wants to be close to. We somehow want to "keep Him" for ourselves. Children tend to be naturally spontaneous and open - they say what comes into their heads, ask the most direct (and sometimes most embarrassing) questions. To enter into God's kingdom requires an attitude that is as direct, honest, open and uncomplicated as a trusting child's, while at the same time we have to be and behave as responsible mature adults in faith.


Lord, make my heart as simple, sincere, open and loving as You saw and praised in those children that were brought to You, whom You embraced and loved.

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 Christians may live their faith coherently and so be credible witnesses of the hope of the Gospel
Elaboration

- END -








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

INTENTION : That Christians may live their faith coherently and so be credible witnesses of the hope of the Gospel

That we may live a "coherent faith" that is a faith which produces the testimony of good works is the ecumenical intention of the Holy Father. In the Joint Declaration on the doctrine of justification signed between the Catholic Church and the World Lutheran Federation in 1999 it is stated that "only through grace, by means of faith in Christ and his salvific work, and not through any merit of ours, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit which renews our hearts, enabling us to perform and leading us to good works".

It has to be understood that no human effort is capable of buying salvation. It is fundamentally a gift of God for which we have a duty to respond and co-operate through "faith-in-action" or "practised faith".

Hence, the strengthening of one's inner faith through prayer and the sacraments will assist in the growth of charity which leads us to live the new commandment of love more fervently. Now is the time to look at charity in a new way. It is not a matter of doing the same thing in the same way. It is a time to seek and find new expressions of love for every human being. Then we become "credible witnesses of evangelical hope"



- END -