By Beth
DeCristofaro
But now that you have
been freed from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit that you have leads to sanctification, and its end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ
Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 6:22-23)
Jesus said to his
disciples: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were
already blazing!
(Luke 12:49)
Piety
Spirit of God,
give us the openness, deep within us to recognize, daily, all people as made in your image and likeness.
give us the openness, deep within us to recognize, daily, all people as made in your image and likeness.
Help us to learn from one another the ways of
being fully alive, at peace with ourselves and with those around us.
Give us the courage to transform those parts of ourselves and our world
that separate and create enmity.
Give us the courage to transform those parts of ourselves and our world
that separate and create enmity.
Help us to take steps to stop the cycle of
violence in our homes, in our workplaces,
in our neighborhoods, in our country, in our world.
in our neighborhoods, in our country, in our world.
May we be open to our deepest yearning for a
world alive with your justice and truth, to dream of a society where all are
treated with respect, and, with the power of your Spirit, to take steps to
bring it about.
Australian Catholic
Social Justice Council
Study
Day after day we receive tragic news that
causes us to shake our heads or clench hands tight in anguish. Many times these
accounts are followed up by stories of individuals and communities reaching out
to those who were hurt, displaced, lost, or attacked. Although it is appalling that so many
atrocities occur, it is hopeful that people continue to step forward to
respond.
In a reflection from “Give Us this Day”, Kate
Ritger describes what it means to be “rich toward God”. Ritger says “If I am rich toward my sister, I
make visiting her a priority, I listen carefully when we talk on the phone, I
appreciate who she is and I share important parts of my life with her. Being ‘rich toward God’ asks us to extend
that generosity, intentionality and vulnerability to the world, especially the
poorest and most vulnerable around us.”[i]
Imagine if we were to make visiting the
homeless a priority. What would happen
if we listened carefully to someone who has been incarcerated or is tormented
by mental illness? What if we appreciated
a person with whom we have significant differences or shared our lives and even
our homes with someone who has had to flee their own home? The world would blaze with a love inspired by
Christ even as the world is divided against itself, suspicious of such a love.
Action
Christ asks us to love, one at a time, a
neighbor, a person, a living sister or brother not an abstract. Who might I stretch myself to meet? Tiny fires unite into magnificent blazes in
Christ.
[i] “Rich in What Matters”, Kate Ritger,
from Give Us this Day: Daily Prayer for
Today’s Catholic, Liturgical Press, October 2015, p. 196.
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