26Jun
Wed
12th Week in Ordinary Time
2 Kgs. 22:8-13,23:1-3
Ps. 119:33-34, 35,36,37,40
Mt. 7:15-20
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The Bible effectively created European civilization and so, influenced the rest of the world. Many people who are not Christians and who have never read the Bible know many of the sayings contained in it. "You can tell a tree by its fruit" is one such example. Jesus' simple saying has become a criterion for judgement in many diverse situations. The power of many of Jesus' words lies in their simplicity and in their resonance with our ordinary human experience. Jesus so often taught us to learn about God and about the meaning of our own existence by appealing to the most ordinary experiences. He spoke to us of the common experience of loss: losing a sheep, a coin, a son. He spoke to us of the experience of trying to forecast the weather. Reminding us of the ways in which we read the sky to tell the weather, Jesus challenged us to read the signs of the times. In today's Gospel, He calls upon us to learn from nature how to read the significance of our actions, the quality of our moral life, our life of faith. While the simplicity of Jesus' teaching can sometimes be quite disconcerting, it is that simplicity which makes His wisdom perennial.



Lord, bless us and make our lives fruitful, with fruit that will last.

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 the leaders and members of different religions may co-operate in their search for world peace, based on conversion of hearts and brotherly dialogue.
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 the leaders and members of different religions may co-operate in their search for world peace, based on conversion of hearts and brotherly dialogue.

While respecting others' beliefs, all religions are called on to form a spiritual United Nations under the common denominator of belief in God who unites us all. We as believers are asked to place our particular faith at the service of the common human good.

This religious goal of humanism should manifest itself in healthy co-operation and not mere coexistence among all the men and women in the world. The universal criterion for achieving a basic common denominator among all the religions is moving from instinctive and sentimental dimensions to social and spiritual ones. And the influence of religions on millions of people is so deep it can be said that without religious peace there cannot be world peace. "Religion and peace go together: unleashing a war in the name of religion is an obvious contradiction". (John Paul II).

Therefore, we must neutralise our disorderly inclinations: selfishness, pride, ambition, lust for money and power, self-sufficiency, a superiority complex. We cannot be at peace with ourselves if we are not at peace with God.




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