NEWSLETTER INSERTS - FOR THE EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

"Neither angels in heaven nor men on earth, nor devils in hell, no creature whatever can harm us, for no creature can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus”.

Saint Louis Marie de Montfort:

"God has loved us from all eternity. Children of men, says the Lord, remember that I first loved you. You had not yet been born, the world itself did not exist, and even then I loved you."

Saint Alphonsus Liguori:

“True love causes pain. Jesus, in order to give us the proof of his love, died on the cross. A mother, in order to give birth to her baby, has to suffer. If you really love one another, you will not be able to avoid making sacrifices.”

St Teresa of Calcutta

“Do everything for love. Thus there will be no little things: everything will be big. Perseverance in little things for love is heroism. A little act, done for love, is worth so much!”

St Jose Escriva

"We humans are not just hungry for food but hungry for God. We hunger for many things including love, peace, justice and security. We try to satisfy that hunger often with things other than God. But the Word of God is clear, especially from the first reading today – ‘Why spend money on what is not bread and your wages on what fails to satisfy?’ Only a deep friendship with God can truly satisfy us for unless we have that, we will always be searching and still not finding what we are looking for. But when we do turn to the Lord in our need, he never fails to satisfy our need and adds even more in ways we did not expect or ask for. The story of the loaves and the fish is another example of God’s abundant generosity and goodness that is above and beyond our own calculated approach".

Fr Billy Swan

"God’s generosity is on full display at the Eucharist which is anticipated by the miracle of the loaves and fish. There we see our God giving Himself away in self-sacrificing love as bread for the hungry. There, his infinite love comes to meet our infinite longing in a moment of loving union. And it is this loving union between us and Him – the lover and his beloved – that is brought about and made stronger when we receive the Eucharist. This is the union that St Paul describes beautifully in the second reading today as being so strong that nothing can separate us from it, except our choice to reject him".

Fr Billy Swan