28 Jun
Thu 		12th Week in Ordinary Time
St Irenaeus, bishop & martyr
Gen. 16:1-12, 15-16
Ps. 106:1-5
Mt. 7:21-29
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A young man wrote to his girlfriend, "for you I'd climb the highest mountain, I'd swim the widest lake, I'd walk the longest road; and I'll visit you on Saturday evening if it's not raining." He was not very convincing really, just like the people who say "Lord, Lord" but do not do the Father's will; or the people who listen to the words of Jesus but fail completely to act on them.

No one is entirely consistent, but if the foundations in a relationship are solid, mostly we will act lovingly. St Augustine once said, "love, and do what you will." The condition of the heart is more important than the words on the lips. Today's Gospel is an invitation to depth and sincerity where God is concerned. It comes on the feast of St Irenaeus (although it is not the gospel of the feast) and he once said, "the glory of God is the human being fully alive". We are fully alive if there is no distance between what is in our hearts and what is in our words and actions. And when we are fully alive, the glory of God is displayed through us - yes, even us - with surprising beauty.


Enliven our hearts with love for You, O Lord.

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 our every activity may have its beginning and its end in Christ present in the Eucharist
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 our every activity may have its beginning and its end in Christ present in the Eucharist

In this month, dedicated to the Sacred Heart, we are encouraged to contemplate the Heart of Jesus in the Eucharist. It will spur us to seek in that Heart the inexhaustible mystery of the priesthood of Christ and of the Church. It will enable us to taste the spiritual sweetness of charity at its very source. It will make us rediscover our baptismal promises and thus be made more aware of having to live our apostolic dimension by spreading love and participating in the mission of evangelisation.

We pray the Lord of the harvest to grant the Church "shepherds after His own Heart" who will be ready to go out into the highways of the world to proclaim that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. We pray that today's young people, docile to the voice of the Holy Spirit, will let the great expectations of the Church and of humanity resonate in the depths of their hearts and respond to Christ's invitation to consecrate, themselves enthusiastically and joyously with Him "for the life of the world".

The entire devotion to the Heart of Jesus is rooted and finds its summit in participation in the Holy Mass where we fraternally assembled, listen to the Word of God and learn to offer with Christ our lives.



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