April 2012
Join us each week and pray for an hour before the Blessed Sacrament, for children. They need you to bring them to the Lord in prayer.
Our April intention is to pray for starving children around the world.
"A kindly eye will earn a blessing, such a person shares out food with the poor." (Proverbs 22:9)
Prayer for hungry children
"Dear Jesus you promised to bring the little children unto you. As your children struggle with hunger, abuse, lack of faith, hope and love, hold them close to your most Sacred Heart. Remind them that they are Your beloved children, with whom You are well pleased. Feed them if they are hungry, protect them if they are abused, and strengthen them in Your love to see beauty rather than despair in their lives. We ask this in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."
Holy week and lent presents to us a life of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Here are some words from the saints on almsgiving for our reflection and action:
“Our prayers become effective through almsgiving; life redeemed from dangers by almsgiving; souls are delivered from death by almsgiving.” St Cyprian
“The bread you store up belongs to the hungry; the cloak that lies in your chest belongs to the naked; the gold you have hidden in the ground belongs to the poor.” St Basil
“If we can enter the church day and night and implore God to hear our prayers, how careful we should be to hear and grant the petitions of our neighbour in need.” St Francis of Assisi
“We must give alms. Charity wins souls and draws them to virtue.” St Angela Merici
“The rich man who gives to the poor does not bestow alms but pays a debt.” St Ambrose of Milan
“If your treasures are to be hoarded, don’t be the one who hoards them, for in doing so you will be surely throwing them away. Instead trust them to God, for no one can steal from Him.”
St John Chrysostom"So when you give alms, do not have it trumpeted before you; this is what the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win men’s admiration. I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you give alms, your left hand must not know what your right is doing; your almsgiving must be secret, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.” Jesus Christ
-feeding the hungry, not only with food, but with the Word of God
-giving drink to the thirsty; not only for water but for knowledge, peace, truth, justice and love
-clothing the naked; not only with clothes but with human dignity
- giving shelter to the homeless; not only a shelter made of bricks but a heart that understands, that covers that loves.
- nursing the sick and dying; not only for the body but also for the mind and spirit.
Mother Teresa said, "My true community is the poor - their security is my security, their health is my health. My home is among the poor, and not only the poor, but the poorest of them: the people no one will go near because they are filthy and suffering from contagious diseases, full of germs and vermin infested; the people who can't go to church because they can't go out naked; the people who can no longer eat because they have'nt the strength; the people who lie down in the street, knowing they are going to die, while others look away and pass them by; the people who no longer cry because their tears have run dry! The Lord wants me exactly where I am - he will provide the answers."
There are 925 million hungry people in the world
Hunger for Jesus Christ
“The most profound deprivation for anyone but especially a child is to be deprived of the gift of faith, of a knowledge and love of Christ. The greatest gift you can offer anyone is the gift of our Catholic faith. There is absolutely nothing more precious than our Catholic faith. This conviction must be the first and permanent motivation behind all teaching of Christian doctrine. Its value to a child is not only temporal but eternal.” (Fr Bede MCGregor OP).
Pope Benedict XVI reminds us how “Jesus identifies himself with those in need, with the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and those in prison. ‘as you did it to one of these my brethren, you did it to me'” (Mt 25:40). This Gospel passage demonstrates how “Love of God and love of neighbour have become one: in the least of the brethren we find Jesus himself, and in Jesus we find God.” (Encyclical Deus Caritas Est , God is Love, no. 15)
The Holy Father also writes that it is only through serving our neighbours that our eyes can be opened to what God does for us and how much he loves us: “The saints—consider the example of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta—constantly renewed their capacity for love of neighbour from their encounter with the Eucharistic Lord, and conversely this encounter acquired its realism and depth in their service to others”
(Encyclical Deus Caritas Est , God is Love, no. 18)
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