+(Intro) We will hear from the prophet Ezekiel this morning that we are to make for ourselves a new heart and a new spirit which is all about surrendering to the gift of God’s grace. So let us be mindful of our failures and continual need for grace as we begin this Eucharist.
(After the Gospel) We want God to reign in our lives each day and as Jesus has just reminded us in the gospel, the Kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are childlike. It is all too easy for any of us to become like the disciples who rebuked those who brought children to Jesus that he might lay his hands on them. Too easily we forget that unless we become like little children, we will never enter the Kingdom of heaven. What a wonderful lesson Jesus gives us in our gospel, a lesson that opens our hearts to the gift of the Holy Spirit all day long.
Ezek 18:1-10, 13bm 30-32; Matt 19:13-15