6 Jun
Wed
9th Week in Ordinary Time
Tob. 3:1-11a, 16-17
Ps. 25:2-9
Mk. 12:18-27
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To be a person of faith can be a costly affair. We are often impelled to act in ways that occasion untoward consequences. This was the experience of Tobit. His faith drove him to help bury a murdered countryman - a corporal work of mercy. His resultant ritual uncleanness - because of contact with a corpse - necessitated that he take his rest in the courtyard. Hence his observance of the law was the cause of his suffering - his loss of sight. Yet Tobit gives no sign of regretting his actions or of resentment towards God. He continues to be zealous for justice, even to the point of incurring the wrath of his wife.

The costliness of our faith is exemplified by Christ. His insistence on proclaiming the Kingdom the way His Father wanted Him to, provoked the resistance that we read about in today's Gospel passage, which ultimately led Him to Calvary. But His trust in His Father was rewarded. Christ was obedient, even unto death, and God raised Him high.

It ought to be the same for us. Our beliefs might perhaps lead us to refrain from appropriating office stationery for non-official use or to keep to the speed limit even when everybody is doing otherwise or to speak out for the oppressed and marginalised. Are we willing to pay the price? How costly is our faith?



Lord, lead me to embrace the costliness of our Christian faith.

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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