22 Oct
Mon 		29th Week in Ordinary Time
Rom. 4:20-25
(R. Ps.) Lk. 1:69-75
Lk. 12:13-21
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Today's Gospel reminds us again that our security is not to be found in riches but rather in God. This runs counter to the culture of our times that measures a person's worth not by who the person is but rather by the externals — what the person owns.

Certainly, we all desire comfort but society and the media would have us believe that we need more and more than we actually already possess and so we redouble our efforts at the accumulation of wealth, sometimes trying so hard that we have no time to enjoy the things we have earned. We confuse need with greed. Even worse, in the process, important things in life - family and faith included — are neglected. We also become so self-centred that our obligations to our neighbour are neglected — all we have time for are my needs and my affairs that there is no more energy or inclination towards God and neighbour.

In our self-sufficiency, we don't seem to need God — unlike Abraham, who in our first reading is described as someone who "drew strength from faith ... convinced that God had the power to do what He had promised." The challenge for us today is to turn again to God and learn to trust Him more to take care of our needs. This does not mean that we do not work towards success but to find the balance, considering the other important things in life.


Lord, help me to trust in Your providence, rather than only my own efforts.

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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