29 Apr Sun 3rd Sunday of Easter (C) Acts 5:27b-32, 40b-41 Ps. 30:2, 4-6, 11-13 Rev (Apo.) 5:11-14 Jn. 21:1-19 How To Pray With Shalom Home Page of Shalom Index of This Month        "Obedience to God comes before obedience to man!" The obvious "confrontational" value of these words should not allow us to forget their inspirational value. We continually experience the power and the dominance of human words thrust at us and upon us by the media. Too often these voices can be so pervasive and so persuasive that they take over the role of conscience; their clamour and aggressive noise crowding out the still, small voice of God that speaks the truth of life and love in our hearts.      So these words of Peter call me to reflect on my own life. Does God's word carry more weight with me than the words of men? According to Peter, obedience to God allows us to receive the Spirit. God's word does not dominate, it liberates, calling us to witness to the truth of all that the Father has done for us in Jesus. The truth is in the contradiction: Jesus gained life for us by losing His life. It is by obeying that we gain our freedom.           Lord Jesus, keep me faithful to Your Word and obedient to the Father, so that filled with Your Spirit, I may witness to the truth. 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 consecrated people, answering the call of their particular vocation, may radiate the spirit of the Gospel beatitudes in the present-day world Elaboration
- END - P R A Y I N G    W I T H    T H E    C H U R C H     INTENTION : That consecrated people, answering the call of their particular vocation, may radiate the spirit of the Gospel beatitudes in the present-day world In the world of today there is a widespread search for joy, happiness, serenity, liberty. That is why the consecrated religious is called on to remind every person that the life of a human being comes from God. Religious give outstanding and striking testimony that the world cannot be transformed and offered to God without the spirit of the Beatitudes which proposes a way of living and for people to relate to each other. The consecrated life is for all the faithful a luminous sign of the common vocation to holiness, a model on which to draw inspiration and courage. Besides, the religious community based on motivations of faith, on mutual love and on sharing presents itself as a call to the constant reform of ecclesial communities. The commitment asked of consecrated people needs the support, awareness and prayer of the entire Christian community, so that human weakness may not prevail but may always allow itself to be led and transformed by God's action. In fact, the attitudes indicated by the Beatitudes not only point a sure way towards fulfilment and charity, but also lead directly to the Person of Christ who came so that men and women not only might have life but have it to the full. - END -