Grace for all

The Letter of Paul to Timothy, in the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, indicates that the grace of the intimate relationship which the followers of Jesus experience with the Divine is to be extended to all. To facilitate the spread of this relationship, the disciples are instructed to pray for all. The psalmist proclaims the source of the strength which would empower believers to pray and wish peace and wellness even to those who persecute them. "The Lord is the strength of his people". The Gospel of Luke recounts the encounter of Jesus and his followers with the Roman Centurion. This soldier represented the oppression of Jesus nation and yet his faith, in spite of and perhaps because of a sense of unworthiness is the model for our own approach to Communion with Jesus in Eucharist. The healing with which the Centurion was blessed is offered to all by Jesus and this presentation of healing and communion is the task of the disciples today.