Churchill Avenue News - Edition 23

Introduction

This past Saturday the Church celebrated the memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The Immaculate Heart of Mary refers to Mary’s interior heart, which remained sinless and devoted to God despite the challenges and sorrows she encountered on earth.

This celebration comes immediately after the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which we celebrated last Friday. These two celebrations of Jesus and Mary are closely connected. The devotion to Jesus’s heart emphasises His heart full of love for all humankind, while Mary’s heart, immaculate and sinless, is our perfect model for loving Jesus.

Our prayer today comes from Pope Francis’ own prayer to entrust the people of Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary to bring peace. May we too pray to Mary for peace in our own lives, for those we love, and for all places around the world where peace and mercy are in desperate need.

Prayer

Through your intercession, may God’s mercy be poured out on the earth and the gentle rhythm of peace return to mark our days.

Our Lady of the ‘Fiat’, on whom the Holy Spirit descended, restore among us the harmony that comes from God.

May you, our ‘living fountain of hope’, water the dryness of our hearts. In your womb Jesus took flesh; help us to foster the growth of communion.

You once trod the streets of our world; lead us now on the paths of peace.

Amen.