Sunday 16th June 2024 readings focus on the Kingdom of God and how He the Lord uses little things, in order to work in the world and in souls. 

The beautiful words from the prophet Ezekiel in the first reading describes the messiah as a tender shoot, taken off the top of the cedar. The ceder tree is a precious wood, and these trees grow wide and tall. They are a symbol of strength and power and can live up to two thousand years. Their redwood is fragrant and exudes gum. It resists insects and decay and is very durable. Solomon’s Temple had panels of cedar and the palaces of Kings David and Solomon were built of cedar.

In the Gospel Jesus gives us the same teaching, how the Kingdom of God is like a grain of mustard seed, sown in the ground. It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the greatest of all shrubs and puts forth large branches. The Catholic Church started in a tiny way, with twelve unlettered men, who were mostly simple fishermen. Jesus chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. From a merely human perspective, it would be impossible to explain how these men, the first Priests of the New Covenant; could have spread the teachings of Christ to the whole known world, in such a short time and with huge obstacles and so much opposition to overcome. But empowered by the Holy Spirit and ready to lay down their lives for Christ and the Gospel, nothing could stop them, and the spread of the Faith.

In the second reading, St Paul reminds us that while we are in the body, we are exiled from the Lord. Our Fatherland is in Heaven, which we have to merit, with the help of God’s grace and our own good actions. This life is temporary, and our true home is in eternity.  The world around us today is much like the pagan world of old, where there is such widespread immorality and scandal. St Paul describes pagan Roman society in his day, where the natural light of reason had been darkened, especially in regard to human dignity and the human person. He explains how God gave them up to the lusts of their hearts, to impurity and to the dishonouring of their bodies among themselves. This is because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie. They worshipped and served the creature, rather than the Creator. God gave them up to perverse passions. Both men and women indulged in homosexual relationships and received in their own person due penalty for their perversion. God gave them up to a base mind and improper conduct, full of every kind of vice, faithless and ruthless.  However, by working from within this society, Christians eventually changed the world. There is an urgent need today for a great force of prayer and witnessing to our faith to turn back the tide of filth which seeks to corrupt the minds of the youth. The Rosary is a powerful weapon to push back the power of Satan. Our Heavenly Mother has said that prayer is more powerful than the atomic bomb. Think about joining our Prayer Warrior Group. We pray the Cenacle with three Rosaries each evening Monday to Friday before the Blessed Sacrament, at the Divine Mercy Shrine. Also consider signing up for a Holy Hour. Eucharistic Adoration is a sure way to holiness and Our Lord gives so much more than we give Him. Although we may seem insignificant, like a grain of mustard seed, we must not neglect to do what we can. Remain always in the State of Grace, pray the Holy Rosary daily and make monthly Confession an essential part of your growth in self-knowledge and holiness.

Let’s all pray and work for the salvation of souls and to hasten the coming of the Kingdom of the Divine Will, when Christ the King will reign once more in the hearts of His people.  Praise be Jesus Christ, now and forever.