Shalom

29 Jan Tue	3rd Week in Ordinary Time
	2 Sam. 6:12-15, 17-19 Ps. 23:7, 8, 9, 10 Mk 3:31-35

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At a first reading the story seems a harsh way for Jesus to speak about his mother. But the story is a way of saying that the only real relationship one can have with Jesus is to accept totally all that he teaches and to become totally committed to following his Way. In the Kingdom it is not blood relationships which count most. In the Kingdom, all are truly brothers and sisters bound together in love and concern for each other. The key words in the story are 'outside' and 'sitting in a circle about him'. The blood family of Jesus is on the 'outside' in so far as they are not with him. But we know that Mary was indeed on the 'inside' for no one listened or reflected more on all that her Son did and said than his Mother. No one was more faithful to the very end. Let us reflect on the attachments in our own lives. Who do we really regard as our brothers and sisters? And where is the evidence to prove it?

Teach me, Lord, how to listen to your Word and make it my own.

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 Christians may intensify their efforts to announce together Jesus Christ, the only Saviour of the world.
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 Christians may intensify their efforts to announce together Jesus Christ, the only Saviour of the world.
In the Apostolic Letter At the Beginning of the New Millennium Pope John Paul II looks towards the future and exhorts the members of the Church not to be afraid to leave the coastal waters "where there is nothing to fish" and move into deep waters. If we are prepared to do this, our catch will be abundant. The Pope particularly exhorts Christ's disciples to intensify their efforts to bring greater unity in the Christian Community. The invocation "Launch out into the deep" is a binding imperative, the strength that sustains us, and a salutary rebuke for our slowness and closed-heartedness. It is on Jesus' prayer and not on our own strength that we base the hope that even within history we shall be able to reach full and visible communion with all Christians. Our trust that we may succeed in attaining the full and visible communion of all Christians, "rests on Jesus' prayer, not on our own capacity". The Lord calls us to unity and will not fail to pour forth His grace on us. But in this context also, as in all our relations with God's salvific grace, we too must do our share. God does not save us against our will; God does not save us if we do not collaborate towards our salvation.
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