21 Jun
Thu
11th Week in Ordinary Time
St Aloysius Gonzaga, religious
2 Cor. 11:1-11
Ps. 111:1-4, 7 8
Mt. 6:7-15
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Say the daily
Novena to the Sacred Heart

Prayer is so central to the lives of Christians as well as to most of our brothers and sisters of other faiths. However, our prayers are so often prayers of petition and intercession, asking God to grant us favours in times of distress.

Jesus teaches us today in the Gospel how to pray. He tells us not to use too many words as God the Father already knows what we need even before we make the request. Does this mean that there is no need of prayer? On the contrary, prayer is of utmost importance in our lives. Nevertheless, instead of only concentrating on prayers of petition or intercession, which are good in themselves, we should also add prayers of praise, thanksgiving and blessing to our communication with God.

We must be continually aware that it is God who directs our lives and knows what is best for us. We on our part, are to collaborate with Him and to accept His will for us.

We however, do not only relate to God but also with one another. In our human encounters, we are bound to have misunderstandings with one another. In His wisdom, Jesus has asked us to seek forgiveness and to forgive each other. It is only when we are freed from our hurts that we are able to serve more genuinely.



Jesus, help us to be able to sincerely pray "Our Father".

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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