Shalom

30 Oct Tue	30th Week in Ordinary Time
	Rom. 8:18-25 Ps. 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6 Lk. 13:18-21

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The two short parables we read in the Gospel today were most likely placed together by Luke to fit in with one of his perspectives: whatever can be said about men can also be said about women. The work of a man planting seed and the work of a woman baking bread are equally valid images of the kingdom of God.

In today's reading from Romans, Paul speaks strongly about the meaning of hope. Our human work, like the planting and baking of Jesus' parables, are frequently performed in hope. The planter has no guarantee that the seed will actually produce anything. The woman has no guarantee that every batch of dough will produce good bread. They work from hope. Yet, their hope is not futile: it is based on experience. Experience teaches us to work in such a way that our work will generally be fruitful. So it is with the Christian virtue of hope, that hope is not futile, because it is based on everything that God has done for us in Christ, and everything that God has done throughout the history of faith, whether the faith of the Church or our own personal faith.

Lord, bless our work with fruitfulness. May the seed of faith we plant bear fruit. May we truly be the leaven of life in society.

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 we may recognise and revere the cultural and spiritual riches of the different ethnic groups and religious minorities present in every country.
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 we may recognise and revere the cultural and spiritual riches of the different ethnic groups and religious minorities present in every country.
This month we are invited to give thanks to God for the variety of gifts he has given to humankind. There is hardly a country in the world today which is not marked by the coming together of different cultural traditions. It ought to be recognised that religion has influenced cultures and is the soul of a particular culture. Vatican II also mentions the good that is to be found in the rites and customs of peoples, recognising this as having been sown by God's Word (LG 17). In fact, Christians belong to many different cultures which have been deeply marked by the Christian faith. In order to appreciate these cultural and religious riches we are called to make an effort to understand and appreciate all that is good in another person and in that person's culture. We are invited to look upon our fellow human beings with the eyes of God who created man in his own image and likeness and who saw all that he had made and found it very good. We are therefore encouraged to consider prayerfully how God is at work in all peoples. In this context our prayer will be that the ongoing dialogue between the Gospel message and cultures may produce fruits of true freedom, joy and peace for the whole of humanity.
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