Catholic Commission for Social Justice
Today’s Second Reading (Ephesians 5:8-14) urges us to “be like children of light”.
If we do, we will certainly see the effects: “complete goodness and right living and truth.” And remember, even when we drift from His loving arms, He waits patiently for us to return to Him, the Light of the World, because He is a God of mercy and compassion. As Pope Francis said in his apostolic exhortation The Joy of the Gospel: “How good it feels to come back to him whenever we are lost!”
Gospel John 4:5-42
Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” —For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.— Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink, ‘you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
“We proclaim Christ in the way we behave in the digital realm, and the Holy Father’s message echoes the importance of seeking the face of Christ across all mediums.” (Bishop Peter Ingham, Chair, Australian Catholic Media Council)
The quotation above by Bishop Ingham refers to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s powerful message for the 47th World Communications Sunday, May 2013, in which he reminds us that: “The digital environment is not a parallel or purely virtual world, but is part of the daily experience of many people, especially the young…in the digital world there are social networks which offer our contemporaries opportunities for prayer, meditation, and sharing the word of God.” If we are to be “true heralds and witnesses of the Gospel”; if we are to “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation” (Mk 16:15), we must find ways of using communications technology effectively.
by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, Catholic Commission for Social Justice
COMPASSION:
Throughout the Scriptures we read of God’s compassion.
Psalm 103:8 states: “God is tender and compassionate, slow to anger, most loving…”
Luke 6:36 tells us to “Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate.”
Here are the winners of the CCSJ’s Digital media competition on Virtues and Values. Winners received $500 each.
1. Omare ‘Kirwin’ Asson from Gasparillo/Tortuga parish. He video taped himself reciting a poem he wrote entitled: If not for… (If not for Faith, Hope and Love).
2. Cheryl-Ann Mader presented a DVD entitled: “Favour in a Year of Faith (2013)” for Laventille Morvant Pastoral Area. It highlighted activities in the parish community during the Year of Faith.
3. Poems by Jeanine Gervais of St Francis of Assisi Parish, Erin.
Titles: Invisible People; The bleeding heart; Cry in the wilderness; Save our children; The world cries; The power of words; A woman’s worth and Missing in action
4. Five students at St Benedict’s College, La Romaine: Issa Khan, Joseph Sutherland, Ricardo Rollock, Michaelanglo Goberdhan, Mark Howel-Paul. Their entry video was entitled: Discrimination in the classroom.
Next page – Poems by Jeanine Gervais