Intention of the Day

That we be sensitive to the needs of all.
Marists at the Province centres at Ashgrove, Brunswick and Mascot.

Today's Gospel. Saint Ignatius Loyola.

When he finds one of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it.

Matthew 13: 46.

Matthew 13: 44 - 46.

Breaking Open The Word

All of them signs of the kingdom of heaven, clues to all the holiness hidden in the dullest of our days.

Taken from: Give Us This Day

Heaven in the Humdrum and Ho-Hum.

[I]f the kingdom of heaven is hidden in this world, it is hidden really well, and only the most dedicated detectives among us stand a chance of finding it at all.

Unless, of course, God has resorted to the oldest trick in the book and hidden it in plain view. There is always that possibility, you know—that God decided to hide the kingdom of heaven not in any of the extraordinary places that treasure hunters would be sure to check but in the last place that any of us would think to look, namely, in the ordinary circumstances of our everyday lives: like a silver spoon in the drawer with the stainless, like a diamond necklace on the bureau with the rhinestones; the extraordinary hidden in the ordinary, the kingdom of heaven all mixed in with the humdrum and ho-hum of our days, as easy to find as an amaryllis bulb in the dark basement that suddenly sends forth a shoot, or a child’s smile when she awakes from sleep, or the first thunderstorm after a long drought—all of them signs of the kingdom of heaven, clues to all the holiness hidden in the dullest of our days.

Jesus knew it all along. Why else would he talk about heaven in terms of farmers and fields and women baking bread and merchants buying and selling things and fishermen sorting fish, unless he meant somehow to be telling us that the kingdom of heaven has to do with these things, that our treasure is buried not in some exotic far-off place that requires a special map but that “X” marks the spot right here, right now, in all the ordinary people and places and activities of our lives?

If we want to speak of heavenly things, he seems to say, we may begin by speaking about earthly things, and if we want to describe that which is beyond all words, we may begin with words we know, words such as: man, woman, field, seed, bird, air, yeast, bread ; words such as: pearl, net, sea, fish, joy. The kingdom is like these things; the kingdom is found in these things. These are the places to dig for the kingdom of heaven; these are the places to look for the will and rule and presence of God.

Barbara Brown Taylor, The Seeds of Heaven. Taken from Give Us This Day.

Barbara Brown Taylor is a best-selling author, professor, and Episcopal priest.

That we be sensitive to the needs of all.
Marists at the Province centres at Ashgrove, Brunswick and Mascot.

Marist Source

The work of evangelisation is primarily the work of the Holy Spirit. It was the Spirit who was the source of Jesus’ prophetic authority to announce the coming of the kingdom…it was the Spirit…who brought light, strength and increase to the early Church…

The Holy Spirit is a gift to us in our Marist journey, enriching and deepening our faith.

ITF 91.

That we be sensitive to the needs of all.
Marists at the Province centres at Ashgrove, Brunswick and Mascot.

To Ponder

“…like treasure hidden in a field…” How is God showing me that I am God’s “ treasure “ on this day?

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Closing Prayer

All Loving God

Cultivate in us a spirituality that flows out of Marian simplicity, humility and modesty.

Release in us wellsprings of refreshment, inspiration and excitement for your work in which we share.

Help us set our gaze on those people and places most in need of Christlife,

Impel us to respond together,

And lead us to be in communion with one another, and with you.

Like Mary, we listen for your invitation,

Like Mary, we set out joyfully and in haste to the hill country of the lives of young people,

Like Mary, we build communities in ways that are Christ-centred.

All Loving God, come and live in our hearts.

Amen