June Messenger: Sacred gifts
“You can’t beat the Sacred Heart for a favour”, says the editor Donal Neary SJ in his opening article of the June Messenger ‘Hearts o’ Stone’. June is traditionally the month associated with devotion to the Sacred Heart and especially the Novena to the Sacred Heart. Donal continues “The heart of Jesus is a generous heart and it is for all of us and our creation.” He also quotes the late Pope Francis who remarked “Christ’s love can give heart to our world and revive love wherever we think that ability to love has been definitively lost.”
Lecturer and author John Scally has written a piece on Matt Talbot to mark his 100th anniversary. John says that Matt Talbot had “Two main passions in his life, in his youth, drink and in his later years God. Unknown in life to the masses, in death Matt Talbot became the object of a large devotional cult promoted by clergy and prominent laity and a candidate for canonisation as a Catholic Saint.”
David Breen continues his series on people in the New Testament. The Prodigal Son features this month. Remarking on the sons return home he says “There are no recriminations, no probation and no necessity to rebuild trust before re-admission to the family. Restoration to status is gracious, immediate and celebrated. In God’s Kingdom grace is primary. With him our value exceeds what we produce and do.”
Jesuit Father Bill Toner SJ has written a blog on the theme of happiness and joy. He says “People of faith believe that God loves them unconditionally and that conviction can be become the unshakeable bedrock of their lives and a deep reservoir of joy. ‘Our hearts ache, but we always have joy’ (2 Cor 6:10). For Saint Ignatius of Loyola this was a hallmark of spiritual strength. He refers to it as ‘consolation’, an occasion when the soul of the person is ‘inflamed with love of its creator and Lord’ and experiences an interior delight that fills the soul with peace and quiet.”
Kevin Hargaden of the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice has written an article to mark Father’s Day which falls on 15 June 2025. His piece focuses on the role of St Louis Martin, a Frenchman who lived in the 1800s. He is best known as the father of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. Kevin explains that “Louis didn’t make grand speeches or impose his will on his children. Instead he loved them through simple gestures: morning prayers, words of encouragement and quiet sacrifices, modern dads can take heart – what matters most isn’t perfection but presence”.
The Messenger has all its regular features as well, – reflections, scripture, cookery, crosswords, children’s pages, nature focus, and RE:LINK.
