NEWSLETTER INSERTS FOR THE TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

‘The wounds of war and the degradation of the earth, then are profoundly linked to the condition of the human heart. The conflicts that torment humanity are in many ways the outward expression of interior discord and division. When the heart is distorted, relationships suffer, and the structures we build begin to reflect that disorder’.

Pope Leo XIV, Message for the Season of Creation 2026

‘What is broken around is also broken within us. In order to build a peaceful society, therefore, we must not only reform structures but also renew our hearts. The deep-set causes of conflict and the exploitation of creation stem from an ethical and cultural crisis, including the loss of a sense of limits, the desire for domination, the pursuit of immediate profit, and the inability to recognize the God-given dignity of each human person’.

Pope Leo XIV, Message for the Season of Creation 2026

‘God does not leave us without the means of healing and transformation. In place of the weapons of war, the God of peace grants us the strength to heal, to reconcile and to build a civilization of love. In this way, we are called to safeguard the many “ecosystems” entrusted to us: the ecosystems of creation, of human relationships and of the human heart itself’.

Pope Leo XIV, Message for the Season of Creation 2026

‘If you judge people, you have no time to love them.

St Teresa of Calcutta

‘I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like, but I know that when we die and it comes time for God to judge us, He will not ask, 'How many good things have you done in your life?' rather He will ask, 'How much love did you put into what you did?’

St Teresa of Calcutta

‘Peter, your place is behind me, not in front of me. It is your place to follow me in the way I choose, not to try to dictate or point the way.

Origen on Jesus’ rebuke of Peter

‘Do not model yourselves on the behaviour of the world around you, but let your behaviour change, modelled by your new mind’. For Paul and for the Gospel today, this new mind we are called to have is always the mind of Christ. It is the mind and heart that sees bigger and wider. It is the mind that seeks to serve and not be served. It is the mind in harmony with the ways of God, the will of God and wisdom of God. It is doing as Paul asks, by ‘thinking of God’s mercy’, that has a logic different to ours and is never calculated on what we deserve’.

Fr Billy Swan