13 Oct
Sat 		27th Week in Ordinary Time
Joel 4:12-21
Ps. 97:1-2, 5-6, 11-12
Lk. 11:27-28
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The first reading gives us the prophet Joel's vision of the Last Judgement in the Valley of Jehoshaphat ("Yahweh judges"). Later Jewish tradition identified this with the Kidron Valley between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives. While this identification has no basis in scripture, anyone who has ever visited the Holy Land can appreciate why the Jewish people made the connection. Standing on the Mount of Olives, one sees the ravine at the edge of the Holy City filled with tombs. It was the great burial site of Mount Zion, and the dead, buried in a standing position, are ready to rise again at the coming of the Lord as Judge "of all the nations".

The second reading gives us a new insight into the Last Judgement. Someone in the crowd calls out to Jesus, "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that nursed you." After the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke, this is one of the very few passages in the gospels that refer to Mary. And Jesus' reply is surprising, "No, rather, blessed is the one who hears the word of God and lives it." Mary is to be praised, not because she is the physical mother of Jesus, but (as Vatican II stressed) because she is His perfect disciple.

Putting the two readings together, we see that the basis of our salvation is not our claim to belong to the People of God (the Jewish nation, the Church), but our fidelity to the teaching and the example of Jesus the Lord.


Lord, bless me with the desire to do Your will.

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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