19 Aug
Mon
20th Week in Ordinary Time
St John Eudes, Priest
Jdg. 2:11-19
Ps. 106(105):34-35,36-37,39-40,43,44
Mt. 19:16-22
(Ps Wk IV)
How To Pray With Shalom
Home Page of Shalom
Index of This Month
 
 

When asked how to achieve everlasting life, Jesus lists tho se commandments which deal with our relations to other people; he does not mention the three comandments which regard our relations with God. When this response does not satisfy the young man, Jesus seems to go even further in this direction of serving the neighbour and still does not mention God as such: "Go, sell your possessions, and give to the poor... Then come back and follow me." The implication is that, by doing what we can for those around us, we serve God, we begin to follow Christ.

Every one of us can be counted among the poor who need to be served: not one of us feels that we are sufficiently known but rather that we are neglected, misunderstood, and undervalued by others. And every one of us feels insufficiently loved and cared for. So in this passage Jesus actively sends each of us to every person we know or meet. Jesus Himself comes to meet us as we open ourselves to the service and love of those others who come to us. Let us try to go beyond the law in a self-forgetting love and concern for others that is a true imitation of our heavenly Father.



Heavenly Father, may we greatly increase our sacrificial giving to the poor.

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 those who administer justice may work with integrity, and that the injustice which prevails in the world may not have the last word.
Elaboration

- END -


© Copyright Shalom 2019. All rights reserved.