1 Oct
Mon 		26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)
St Therese of Child Jesus, Patroness of Missions
Is. 66:10-14
Ps. 131:1-3
Mt. 18:1-5
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Few people, apart perhaps from the Mother of Jesus, have led such a secluded life as St Therese of the Child Jesus and yet few have exicted so great a following all over the world. The Gospel of today expresses exactly what has aroused the admiration of so many people. As the disciples were arguing among themselves which of them was the greatest, Jesus took a small child and said that anyone who welcomed a child like this in the name of Jesus, welcomed Jesus Himself and the Father who sent Him. Children are vulnerable and easily formed. They are open and eager to learn and free of prejudice. People who are like that are easily reached by Jesus and ready to receive His message of life. This is precisely what made Therese great. She remained to the end of her short life a child in the very best sense of the word. Always ready to hear what Jesus had to say to her and eager to join — through her sufferings — in spreading the Gospel.


Dear St Therese, help me to have some of your spiritual and your great love for our Lord. Share with me your zeal to spread the Good News of Jesus among all I meet.

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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