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Home / 2021 / June - Page 2
  • June 13, 2021. Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time


    He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

    Read More June 13, 2021. Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary TimeContinue

  • June 12, 2021 The Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary


    He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart.

    Read More June 12, 2021 The Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin MaryContinue

  • June 11, 2021. The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus


    This is the evidence of one who saw it — trustworthy evidence, and he knows he speaks the truth — and he gives it so that you may believe as well. Because all this happened to fulfil the words of scripture:
    Not one bone of his will be broken:
    and again, in another place scripture says:
    They will look on the one whom they have pierced.

    Read More June 11, 2021. The Most Sacred Heart of JesusContinue

  • June 10, 2021. Thursday of Week 10 in Ordinary Time


    So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.

    Read More June 10, 2021. Thursday of Week 10 in Ordinary TimeContinue

  • June 9, 2021. Wednesday of Week 10 in Ordinary Time


    And Jesus said to them, “Why are you so frightened, you men of little faith?” And with that he stood up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and all was calm again. The men were astounded and said, “Whatever kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey him.”

    Read More June 9, 2021. Wednesday of Week 10 in Ordinary TimeContinue

  • June 8, 2021. Tuesday of Week 10 in Ordinary Time


    In the same way your light must shine in the sight of all, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.

    Read More June 8, 2021. Tuesday of Week 10 in Ordinary TimeContinue

  • June 7, 2021. Monday of Week 10 in Ordinary Time


    “Happy are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

    Read More June 7, 2021. Monday of Week 10 in Ordinary TimeContinue

  • Liturgy | Presider's Page

    Presider’s Page for 6 June (Corpus Christi)

    Today we honour the Body and Blood of Christ, the food that sustains us on our pilgrimage through life. Even if in pandemic times we have not received Holy Communion as often as we would have liked, we have learned to appreciate this gift all the more.

    Read More Presider’s Page for 6 June (Corpus Christi)Continue

  • June 6, 2021. The Most Holy and Precious Blood of Christ


    While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

    Read More June 6, 2021. The Most Holy and Precious Blood of ChristContinue

  • June 5, 2021. Saturday of Week 9 in Ordinary Time


    “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

    Read More June 5, 2021. Saturday of Week 9 in Ordinary TimeContinue

  • June 4, 2021. Friday of Week 9 in Ordinary Time


    “David himself calls him Lord; so how can he be his son?”

    Read More June 4, 2021. Friday of Week 9 in Ordinary TimeContinue

  • June 3, 2021. Thursday of Week 9 in Ordinary Time


    One of the scribes came up to Jesus and put a question to him, ‘Which is the first of all the commandments?’ Jesus replied, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’

    Read More June 3, 2021. Thursday of Week 9 in Ordinary TimeContinue

  • June 2, 2021. Wednesday of Week 9 in Ordinary Time


    And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the story about the bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is God not of the dead, but of the living; you are quite wrong.”

    Read More June 2, 2021. Wednesday of Week 9 in Ordinary TimeContinue

  • June 1 2021. Monday of Week 9 in Ordinary Time


    ‘Why do you set this trap for me? Hand me a denarius and let me see it.’ They handed him one and he said, ‘Whose head is this? Whose name?’ ‘Caesar’s’ they told him. Jesus said to them, ‘Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.’ This reply took them completely by surprise.

    Read More June 1 2021. Monday of Week 9 in Ordinary TimeContinue

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    Vatican News: Vatican releases schedule for Pope’s Consistory with Cardinals

    June 23 2026
    Sean O'Conaill
    The first session (of the ongoing consistory) will focus on the question: “In what kind of world are we called to proclaim the Gospel?” Answer: One in which the church hierarchy - including all of its cardinals - still defer the clear and honest identification of the ecclesial sin that hid the phenomenon of clerical sexual abuse - thereby disabling their own power to proclaim the Gospel of the forgiveness of all sins - including that one. The inability of YouCat even to index that sin (Pride) is no coincidence. To speak of pride as the sin behind all violence - and all hiding of abuse - would require the hierarchy not only to describe it clearly - but to give examples, and the example of a culture of secrecy in the church that harmed the most innocent could not honestly be excluded. Far better then (it has obviously been concluded) not to talk about that sin at all - even in a Catechism intended for youth. And so, when it comes to sin, the church is still in an era of 'don't talk about pride'. The 2022 Irish call for a 'reckoning' on clerical abuse - repeated even by Ireland's bishops - has been blanked at the highest level - seriously endangering synodality also. Not for nothing does Charles Collins of CRUX call out this obvious dithering of those who wear red as a symbol of readiness for martyrdom. Readiness for "sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed” is still a step too far. https://cruxnow.com/news-analysis/2026/06/synodality-leo-style-holds-promise-the-clerical-abuse-crisis-is-the-real-test
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    28 June 2026 – 13th Sunday, (A)

    June 28 2026
    Thara Benedicta
    Key Message: If Jesus occupies the first place, everything else will find its proper place. Homily: Testimony of a prayer intercessor: "I was very interested in serving our Lord, so I used to take whatever opportunities that come by, like praying for others, teaching in catechism class, church ministries and so on. But my husband was not interested. Yet he used to drop me wherever and whenever I needed to go. He also used to do the household chores, take care of me, kids and cooking so that I could peacefully serve our Lord. Something beautiful happened... God raised him to great heights in his career which he did not imagine. He got a peaceful work from his home career too. So he is now able to take care of his financial career and household chores, happily. I am now able to serve our Lord more and more." At first hearing, today's Gospel may trouble us. Our Lord Jesus says, "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." These words seem difficult, especially because they come from the One who taught us to honour our father and mother and who Himself cared tenderly for His own mother even from the Cross. Does our Lord Jesus want us to love our families less? Certainly not. The Lord who commands us to love our neighbour cannot contradict Himself. Rather, He is teaching us a truth that our lives become beautiful only when our loves are rightly ordered. St. Augustine once wrote that sin is not simply loving bad things. More often, it is loving good things more than the greatest good. Family is a gift from God. Friendship is a gift from God. Work, health, success, and even life itself are gifts from God. But a gift must never take the place of the Giver. When we place any created thing above God, even something as beautiful as family, our hearts become disordered, and eventually we lose both God and the very gifts we were trying to protect. Think of a river flowing from a mountain spring. As long as it remains connected to its source, it gives life to everything around it. But if the source dries up, the river also dries up. In the same way, God is the source of every genuine love. If we remain united to Him, our love for our spouse becomes purer, our love for our children becomes wiser, and our friendships become more faithful. But if we separate ourselves from God, even our best human relationships eventually suffer, because they are no longer nourished by the source of love itself. This is why our Lord Jesus asks for first place in our hearts. He is not competing with our families. He is protecting them. The person who loves Christ first does not become a poorer husband or wife; he becomes a better one. The mother who loves Christ above everything else does not love her children less; she loves them more deeply because she loves them with the very love of Christ. History gives us many examples of this truth. Think of one of our favorite saints, St. Monica. She loved her son Augustine with all the tenderness of a mother, yet she loved God even more. Because she loved God first, she never gave up praying for her son, even when he wandered far from the faith. For nearly seventeen years she wept, fasted and prayed for his conversion. If she had relied only on human wisdom, she might have despaired. But because her heart rested first in God, she became the instrument through which Augustine returned to Christ. Her ordered love became the salvation of her son. One of my friends said, "If I do not feel the love towards my Jesus, I do not feel any love towards my kids too. I feel my heart is empty". Our Lord Jesus speaks another challenging sentence: "Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me." We often imagine the cross as something extraordinary, but for most of us it is found in ordinary faithfulness. The cross may be forgiving someone who has deeply hurt us. It may be caring patiently for an aging parent. It may be remaining faithful to our marriage vows during difficult seasons. It may be resisting temptation when nobody else would know. It may be choosing honesty when dishonesty seems easier. The cross is not something we choose for ourselves; it is often what God permits to shape us into the likeness of His Son. St. Augustine once observed that Christ did not promise His disciples an easy road but a true one. The road to life passes through the Cross because love always requires sacrifice. Parents understand this instinctively. They lose sleep for their children. They sacrifice comforts for their family's well-being. Their love costs them something. In the same way, every authentic disciple discovers that following Christ demands self-denial, but that sacrifice is never wasted. What is surrendered out of love is always returned by God in a richer way. Our Lord Jesus says something that seems almost paradoxical in today's Gospel: "Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it." This is one of the great mysteries of the Christian life. The world tells us to protect ourselves, to accumulate more, to seek recognition, to make our own happiness the highest goal. Christ tells us that life is found not by clinging to ourselves but by giving ourselves away. A spring does not become poorer by giving water. A tree does not diminish itself by bearing fruit. Their very purpose is fulfilled in giving. So too, the human heart discovers its deepest joy not in possessing but in loving. Also in today's Gospel reading at the end, our Lord Jesus speaks of what appears to be a very small act: giving a cup of cold water to one of His little ones. It is remarkable that after speaking about carrying the cross and surrendering one's life, He ends by mentioning something so ordinary. Why? Because the Kingdom of God is built not only through heroic deeds but also through hidden acts of love. Every smile offered to someone who is lonely, every word of encouragement to a discouraged soul, every visit to the sick, every patient conversation with a child, every unnoticed act of kindness offered for Christ's sake becomes precious in God's eyes. Heaven measures greatness differently from the world. The world counts achievements; God counts love. Is our Lord Jesus Christ truly the centre of our hearts? Do our decisions reflect His priorities? Does our family see that God comes first in our lives? If Christ occupies the first place, everything else will find its proper place. But if anything replaces Him, even good things will eventually disappoint us. When Christ becomes our greatest love, we do not lose the people we cherish. Rather, we learn to love them with the very heart of God.
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  • 4 comments

    Vatican News: Vatican Dicastery maintains that a layperson cannot deliver the homily

    June 23 2026
    Joe O'Leary
    From the article: `Exactly what is the basis for a layperson's inability to comment on the Word of God before a congregation of the faithful? If a theologian with a doctorate in Sacred Scripture can't gloss the Sunday Gospel, but a newly ordained priest who has never opened an exegetical commentary can, the criterion isn't competence. It's the clerical caste of sacred officials, which wants to be preserved at all costs.' Claire Daurelle is the French Church as I thought it to be and as the whole church ought to be. Canon lawyers straining out gnats is a betrayal of this church. Synodality should have entailed a highlighting of the values at stake here, and open discussion of them in light of the Gospel and the experience of the faithful. Instead -- back to Trent! a Council that betrayed itself by handing all authority over to the Pope in its final days; resulting in the crimes of the Roman Inquisition -- burnings at the stake -- Bruno in 1600, Manfredi in 1610 -- other forms of bullying and sectarian fanaticism -- until a saner, more secular and peaceful world dawned with the Treaty of Westphalia 1648. For all the noise about synodality, collegiality, and Vatican II, the message coming across is that Canon Law trumps them all and is more sacred than them all. Mary McAleese's question resounds: QUO VADIS?
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  • 4 comments

    Vatican News: Vatican Dicastery maintains that a layperson cannot deliver the homily

    June 23 2026
    Soline Humbert
    The forbidden pulpit: Rome silences lay people at Mass. "Prohibiting this practice for lay people is not defending the sacramentality of the homily. It is defending the institution at the expense of the Gospel. Because clericalism is not only a moral vice. It is also an ecclesiological heresy. And the pulpit closed to lay people is its most visible monument... The homily as a clerical monopoly did not originate with Jesus. It originated with the Council of Trent." https://www.religiondigital.org/rumores_de_angeles/pulpito-prohibido-roma-cierra-boca_132_1459020.html
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