Practising our Faith

We have heard Jesus remind us that, “If a man serves me he must follow me” Through the Mass and the Sacraments, particularly the Eucharist and Confession, we have, readily to hand, the means by which we may follow Our Lord and  live in (or even regain) the State of Grace and so be constantly prepared for our Judgement and Eternity.
 
We have also heard through the Charity, Aid to the Church in Need, how for the Faith from which, sadly, we can be tempted to lapse or to practice indifferently, others of our Brothers and Sisters in Christ daily incur persecution, exile  and even death for publicly practising.
 
Bishop Patrick noted the generosity of our Parish when it comes to giving financial aid to those who, on our behalf, help those in the world who are often living in dire poverty or, as we have heard, are denied their freedom to practise their Faith. Of course, as we will appreciate, this open-handedness is only of real value when it is underpinned by Faith as it is then united to God, the Author of all Goodness.
 
While we may be limited, financially, in what we can give, spiritually we are only limited by our own determination; “Ask and you will receive….”; beginning with our Morning Offering we can dedicate every prayer, work, suffering and joy of each day to helping those who  are in need of any kind. Every moment of the day can become a prayer if it is offered to God and lived in union with His Grace. As the story of The Widow’s Mite illustrates, unlike the world, God looks into our hearts and not at externally ‘significant’ actions in our lives