St Fiacre's Parish, Leichhardt

09/06/2026

Morning Prayer

09/06/2026

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, MATTHEW 5:17-19
Weekday
(1 Kings 18:20-39; Psalm 16)
KEY VERSE: "But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (v 19b).
READ: Like Moses, Jesus taught his followers that the Law of God had lasting validity and must be obeyed. Jesus emphasized the permanency of God's Law by saying that not even the tiniest flourish (yod) of the smallest letter (iota) in the Hebrew alphabet would pass from the Law until its fulfillment in the final age. Jesus' dispute with the religious leaders was not with the Law itself, but with their legalistic interpretation. Jesus deepened and widened the meaning of the Law through his words and works. He said that those who taught others to understand the true purpose of God's Law, and practiced it through love of God and one another, would inherit a place in God's kingdom. Those who willfully disregard God's Law would be excluded from God's reign.
REFLECT: Holy Spirit, help me to respect God's Law in all I do.
PRAY: Do I give a good example by my obedience to God's Law?

09/06/2026

09/06/2026

The Quiet Heart of Prayer


Reflect
Many years ago, a priest gave me advice in confession. He told me that I did too much talking to God—and that I needed to shut up and learn to listen better. I realized how true that statement was and how much I need silence in my growing relationship with God.

Pray
Our God,
You are not found in the loud, bright, or shiny moments and experiences of life.
Your presence is found and nurtured through solitude and silence.
Teach me that the beginning and end of prayer is found in silence and listening. Amen.

Act
Mother Teresa has some of the simplest, most wise advice when it comes to prayer. “God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer,” she said. Spend some time asking God, “How might more listening and silence deepen my relationship with you? What needs to change in my life to help bring this about?”

08/06/2026

WHY IS SAINT ANTHONY HOLDING THE CHILD


Saint Anthony of Padua is one of the few Saints in the Church who are represented with the baby Jesus in their arms.

In May of 1231, after having preached his last Lent in Padua - he died on June 13 of that year - he moved to Verona and from there to the castle of Camposampiero of Count Tisso, where a community of Franciscan religious lived. In the forest that surrounded the castle, next to a giant walnut tree, the Saint was built a small cabin, where he lived most of the day and night dedicated to meditation and prayer. This is where the vision of the baby Jesus took place. Count Tisso, who frequently visited and spied on his famous guest, witnessed how the Saint had before him, in his arms, the baby Jesus. This was the one who warned him that the Count had witnessed him. The saint forbade the Count to divulge him until he had died.

Knowing this story, at the end of the fifteenth century artists began to represent Saint Anthony with the child Jesus in his arms, as it appears in most of the sculptures that can be seen in the churches and museums.

08/06/2026

Francis and Anthony:

Brothers in Alms

Anthony’s ascent to sainthood was even more meteoric than Francis’. The citizens of Padua demanded that “their saint” be canonized, and on May 30, 1232, less than a year after his death, Gregory IX announced that this “Hammer of Heretics”–because of Anthony’s profound knowledge of Scripture–was now among the saints of the church.

In so doing, no doubt the pope intended to reward a staunch ally, but also to send a message to the Lesser Brothers. After all, did their Order really deserve a second saint so soon? Dominic had died in 1221, five years before Francis, and had not yet been canonized–that would not happen until 1234. But Gregory wished to point out to the Lesser Brothers at this critical moment of their history that in addition to their founder, they could aspire to another model of holiness. The Franciscans now had two saints, Francis and Anthony, who symbolized two strains that would exist, sometimes in tension, among them from that time forward.

08/06/2026

Today is the sixth day of the Novena in honor of St Anthony of Padua. Let us pray.

+ In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN
Day 6 (June 9)
O glorious St. Anthony, chosen by God to preach his Word, you received from Him the gift of tongues and the power of working the most extraordinary miracles. O good St. Anthony, pray that I may fulfill the will of God in all things so that I may love Him, with you, for all eternity. O kind St. Anthony, I beseech you, obtain for me the grace that I desire, the favor I seek in this novena (State your intention).

One Our Father, one Hail Mary, and Glory Be to the Father, in honor of Saint Anthony.

Saint Anthony, pray for us!

08/06/2026

TUESDAY, JUNE 9, MATTHEW 5:13-16
Weekday
(1 Kings 17:7-16; Psalm 4)
KEY VERSE: "Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father" (v 16).
READ: Throughout human history there have been shifts from an exaggerated dependence on God to an excessive dependence on oneself. Jesus taught his disciples that a spiritually healthy person was one who had a balance between self-reliance and reliance on God. When the two came together, then the Kingdom of God was truly present on earth. Jesus' disciples must be living signs of God's reign. They must be "salt" to those who had lost their taste for the things of God and "light" to those who had lost their way. Christians can be an influence for good by offering a necessary flavor to the world. By illuminating the pathway to God, Jesus' disciples would preserve others from evil.
REFLECT: Holy Spirit, help me to live in such a way that others can "taste and see how good the Lord is" (Ps 34:9).
PRAY: How can I be "salt" and "light" to my community?