Shalom

15 Dec Sat	2nd Week of Advent
	Sir. 48:1-4, 9-11 Ps. 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19 Mt. 17:10-13

How To Pray With Shalom

Home Page of Shalom

Index of This Month

According to Sirach, the prophet Elijah "shut up the heaven" by God's word. Today's responsorial psalm calls upon God to look down from heaven and to listen to us, to come and save us. We call upon God not to shut us out from communion with Him, not to keep heaven closed against us. This prayer was answered in Jesus. When the Word of God became flesh to dwell amongst us, the heavens opened again for us. When Jesus was baptised, the heavens opened, God the Father spoke and the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus.

In the story of Elijah we see how he suffered. Isaiah spoke about a suffering Servant of God. Jesus recalls for us today that John the Baptist suffered, and hints at His own future suffering and death. In Jesus, the roles of Messiah and Suffering Servant come together. Yet suffering need not lead to despair, for in the whole mystery of Jesus from conception to ascension we see God's love at work to set us free from sin and finally free from all suffering. God does not now save us from suffering. God rather saves us through suffering.

Father in Heaven, give us new life as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Your Son. In union with Jesus may we always call upon Your name.

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 free themselves from the subtle forms of cultural conditioning which prevent them from recognising the dignity and rights of others
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 free themselves from the subtle forms of cultural conditioning which prevent them from recognising the dignity and rights of others
Our vocation and mission as Christians is to bring the light of Christ to the world in order to preserve the world from corruption by permeating it with the values of the Gospel. We need, ourselves, first and foremost to be enlightened by Christ. We do not generate light, we only refract, reflect and radiate. It is His light that we must cast on the world. The more transparent our lives are with the values of the Gospel, the better is the light of Christ reflected and the less we are seen. The world in which we live is mixed with wheat and weeds. There is good and evil. Consumerism is but the logical sequence of a materialistic way of life. Spiritual values are forgotten. Our wants are made to appear as our needs and we are forced to get so immersed in the joys of this world as to forget the joys of the world to come. We are admonished to be aware lest we be trapped by these and other forms of cultural conditioning that mark this world. Awareness is the first step to change. We pray that this awareness may help us to be delivered from the cultural conditioning that hinders and hampers our vision and prevents us from recognising the dignity and the rights of others.
- END -