19 Aug
Thu
20th Week in Ordinary Time
St John Eudes, priest
Ez. 36:23-28
Ps. 50(51): 12-13,14-15,18-19
Mt. 22:1-14
(Ps Wk IV)
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"A new heart and a new spirit". All God's gifts to us are for our own good: it is better for us to have real human hearts rather than "hearts of stone". At the same time, God gifts to us reveal God's holiness and manifest God's glory. Therefore St Thomas Aquinas declared, "God desires his glory for our sake, for our good."

Ezekiel seems the strangest of the prophets, with his exotic and extravagant visions. We wonder how his contemporaries understood him. We are more fortunate than they were: through our faith in Jesus as our crucified and risen Lord, we can see levels of meaning in the writing of the Old Testament that are revealed in the life of Jesus, in his ministry and most especially in his passion, death and resurrection. We may with a certain accuracy that Jesus' final ministry was the sending of the Holy Spirit, after accomplishing his earthly mission in his Ascension. That gift of the Holy Spirit, "poured out in our hearts", as Paul says (Rom. 5:5) fulfils God's promise of "a new heart and a new spirit," far beyond all human hopes and dreams.



Lord God, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, You have given us a new heart and a new spirit. May our lives be animated by this gift for Your greater glory.

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 those who are unemployed, homeless, or in any serious need may find welcome, understanding, and help in overcoming their difficulties.
Elaboration

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