Catholic Commission for Social Justice
If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, “thank you,” that would suffice. ~Meister Eckhart
Too often we pray to God for all sorts of things and when our prayers are answered, like the nine lepers in today’s Gospel (Luke 17:11-19), we forget to give Him thanks.
In today’s Gospel, it is a Samaritan, a person who is not a Jew, who returns to thank Jesus for healing him. All we have is “gift” from God for which we should be thankful.
As we come to the close of this year’s Respect For Life Week (RFLW) on Sunday, October 3, I urge you all to join people from various faith communities as we walk and pray around part of Queen’s Park Savannah – from Casuals Corner (near the American Embassy) to St Ann’s Roundabout from 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. this Sunday. Some of you may prefer to gather in the Savannah at St Ann’s Roundabout and wait for us there. We will also be praying there at the end of the procession. The Youth Commission’s steel band will play for us also.
I believe that it is by divine intervention – as we begin Respect For Life Week, that the Gospel reading today (Luke 16:19-31) focuses on Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus. In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI reminded us that the rich man in the parable “embodies the unjust spending of wealth by those who use it for unbridled and egotistical luxury, thinking only of satisfying themselves, without taking care of the beggar at their door.
On Friday, September 24, Republic Day, Sir Ellis Clarke TC, GCMG, will share with us from his storehouse of knowledge, the story of our journey to becoming a Republic. Join us on this public holiday at Living Water Community, Frederick St., POS (4.00 p.m. – 6.00 p.m.). It is fitting to ask one of our icons to focus on our people and our land at the start of Respect For Life Week (RFLW).
CCSJ will be sending to parishes copies of the September issue of our Parish Link Newsletter which contains articles to assist you as you prepare to observe Respect for Life Week Sept 26 – Oct 3