REDESIGNING OUR PRESENCES Continental Meeting for Asia-Oceania (10-20 September 2009) Morning Prayer

The words of Fr. Alberione 17 September Pauline Poverty When lived in the spirit of Jesus Christ, evangelical poverty is much more than simple detachment: it liberates us from the things that chain us to the world, and at the same time it provides us with the impetus we need to multiply our energies and use everything to serve the Gospel. (Pauline Spirituality, 1962, 374).

The Word of God We will tell you of the grace of God which has been granted to the churches of Macedonia, and how, throughout continual ordeals of hardship, their unfailing joy and their intense poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. I can testify that it was of their own accord that they made their gift, which was not merely as far as their resources would allow, but well beyond their resources; and they had kept imploring us most insistently for the privilege of a share in the fellowship of service to God’s holy people—it was not something that we expected of them, but it began by their offering themselves to the Lord and to us at the prompting of the will of God (2 Co. 8:1-5).

Resonances

Prayer Here I am, Lord, in all my poverty, before the One who commands all wealth; in all my weakness before the One who is all-powerful; a sinful child before the Father she has offended. Help me to think in keeping with the truth; to desire whatever is in accord with justice, and to trust in your mercy. Let me often say: “Lord, you are everything. I am nothing.”