June 2021: Prayers and Reflections for June

The Pope’s Monthly Intentions
Evangelisation: The beauty of marriage. Let us pray for young people who are preparing for marriage with the support of a Christian community: may they grow in love, with generosity, faithfulness and patience.

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The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)
6 June
It was Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) who said ‘there are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.’ We pray in The Lord’s Prayer: ‘Give us this day our daily bread.’ This reminds us that God provides us with the bread of mercy, forgiveness, and presence to nourish us so that we can spiritually live.
See the Catechism of the Catholic Church #1359 to #1361
on The Eucharist as thanksgiving
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St Coulmba 521-597 (Columcille) o 9 June
This year is the 1500th anniversary of Columba’s birth in Donegal. He is one of Ireland’s pilgrim-missionaries who went to Scotland and Northern England. He founded the monastery in Iona. It is an active inter-faith centre of prayer and worship today. Columba is unique in that he never left a written rule. The hymn for Morning Prayer on Thursdays, ‘Alone with none but thee my God’ is attributed to Columba. The hymn shows that every relationship with God is special. (See: Ordo, p. 182).
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The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus o 11 June
World Day of Prayer for Priests
The Feast of the Sacred Heart resonates with many people. Four prayers from the Litany of the Sacred Heart unfold for us the centrality of Christ in our lives:
Heart of Jesus: full of goodness and love. Heart of Jesus: in whom dwells the fullness of God. Heart of Jesus: generous to all who turn to you. Heart of Jesus: patient and full of mercy.
The Litany has 33 invocations and is in official use in the Church since 1899.
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St Thomas More (1478-1535) 22 June
Thomas wrote a letter to his daughter, Margaret on the night before he was to be executed. It showed his tender love for his family and his complete peace with his impending death as he ‘longed to go to God’ on the following day. In one evocative line in the long letter he writes: ‘farewell my child and pray for me and I shall for you and for all your friends that we may merrily meet in heaven.’

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Saints Peter and Paul o 29 June
This day is called Petertide in the Anglican Church. We can learn from Peter and Paul’s life. Paul converted from being a brutal persecutor to a fearless preacher through the grace of Christ. Peter learned that his denials are restored by love. Both men show us by their lives that recovery from their mistakes and openness to God’s love gave them courage to witness to their faith. We all have shaky egos that are vulnerable to shame. But each of us, like Peter and Paul are also called by name for God’s kind purpose and plan.
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June is the month of anniversaries of Ordinations. We give thanks for all priests over decades of quiet service who have accompanied God’s people. May God who began the good work in all priests, bring it to completion. Heart of Jesus, salvation of all who trust in you.
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