15 Oct
Mon 		28th Week in Ordinary Time
St Teresa of Avila
Rom. 1:1-7
Ps. 98:1, 2-3, 3-4
Lk. 11:29-32
How To Pray With Shalom
Home Page of Shalom
Index of This Month
 

Today we begin reading Paul's Letter to the Romans, and this will continue for four weeks. Among Paul's Letters, the introductory section of Romans, which we read today, is one of the longer and more theological passages.

First of all, we have a brief theology of vocation, distilled from Paul's own experience. We are all called and "set aside" for God. We are called to be servants of Christ Jesus, who Himself was the Suffering Servant of God. We are also called to proclaim the Gospel.

Then Paul gathers much of the Christological doctrine of the New Testament into a few sentences. Jesus is truly Son of God, but on earth He had a human ancestry and was fully human. His life was climaxed by the resurrection, in which we see Him as truly the Son of God, the man on whom the Holy Spirit rested. His life was one of perfect holiness and sinlessness. As His disciples, we too are "called to holiness", to be holy through the holiness of Jesus, which He shares with us in the Church. Our apostolic mission in whatever we do in the Church is to help all people to realize that they "are called to belong to Christ Jesus".


Father in heaven, draw us closer to You in holiness in union with Your Son.

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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