27 Mar Tue 4th Week of Lent Ez. 47:1-9, 12 Ps. 46:1-2, 4-5, 7-8 Jn. 5:1-16 How To Pray With Shalom Home Page of Shalom Index of This Month        Water is the very source of life, and without it, all living things wither and die. For this reason, water is often the symbol used to portray God's life-giving spirit. Ezekiel envisions this spirit pouring from the temple in the Last Days, giving life and growth wherever it flows. John uses the same image to portray Jesus and the spirit which He gives us. When we live in His spirit we have life and abundance. We are transformed into His likeness. We should never feel trapped, abandoned or without hope. We have God's promise. Healing means change. We can never just continue our lives as before. Jesus asks the sick man whether he wants to be healed. It may seem like a silly question, but often we are ambivalent about our healing or being healthy! Jesus makes it clear to the man that his healing will mean fundamental changes in his life and new directions in his journey. He can no longer cling to his condition or seek sanctuary in the past. As we ask the Lord for healing, we might imagine Him asking us "Do you want to be healed?" What sort of changes would He ask us to make? In what ways do we perhaps cling to our present situation or condition? God's life-giving spirit means both new life and change.           Lord, help me to receive the gift of God's Spirit in my life. 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, with the committed help of all believers, the scourge of poverty may come to an end, eliminating the intolerable social and economic inequality in the 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, with the committed help of all believers, the scourge of poverty may come to an end, eliminating the intolerable social and economic inequality in the world One might also say that poverty is the negation of economic and social rights and that the poor who suffer from absolute poverty are denied the most fundamental right which is the right to life. The international community too is becoming progressively more aware of the gravity of the problem and has declared solemnly to fight and reduce extreme poverty by 2015. Besides, how can we not realise the situation growing worse in spite of the increase in available resources. The problem of unequal distribution of resources in its correct setting is an ethical one, since it is a problem of justice: the poor are in the first place victims of injustice. In the era of globalisation we can no longer tolerate a world in which the very rich live side by side with the poor, the property less who lack even the essentials with people who shamelessly waste what others desterately need. One of the more evident worrying consequences of this phenomenon is in fact the progressive increase instead of the decrease of inequalities, in both poor countries and rich countries, and between the North and South. Let us pray that the scourge of poverty may come to an end - END -