Looking around us it is easy to get discouraged, it seems as if the temptation to despair grows with each passing day. Thanks be to God, Our Father, who knows that we need to hear a word of encouragement. Today, He wants us to hear how this is all part of His Plan, that we His co-workers in His Work of Salvation are to love and witness to His Love even to those who are enemies of the Gospel as they too have been called to be saints just as we are called to be saints. So, let us take the encouragement that Jesus and St Paul are giving us today to remain firm in hope to live out a spirit of renewal in this day and this age.