3 March. SEE.  Mike was interested in justice and peace issues.  “We all have a right and the responsibility to judge for ourselves who and what is right and wrong. Like who to vote for or should you pay your traffic fines and report water leaks as ecological wastage.  We have to stand up for what we believe.  It’s no good complaining about the government and then still vote for them. Everyone knows the saying, ‘Practise what you preach.’”

JUDGE, reflect and share. Scripture. The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so practise and observe whatever they tell you, but do not do what they do, for they preach but do not practise.  Matt 23:1-2.   Pope Francis: Freedom is something magnificent yet it can also be dissipated and lost. Moral education has to do with cultivating freedom through ideas, incentives, practical applications, rewards, examples and more.  AL 267.   Pope Leo:   In today’s world, justice and human dignity are at an alarming risk amid global power imbalances.  We need to encourage and support every spiritual, cultural and political initiative that keeps hope alive, countering the spread of “fatalistic terminology as if the dynamics involved were the product of anonymous impersonal forces or structures independent of the human will.” We must promote self-awareness in civil societies, forms of responsible association, experiences of nonviolent participation, and practices of restorative justice on both a small and large scale.   PM

From THE LITTLE FLOWERS OF ST FRANCIS.  The story of Francis and Brother Bernard has a sequel too.  Having punished Francis, Bernard then wanted Francis to correct him too every time he displayed a fault. This worried Francis, who for a time avoided his friend, so he wouldn’t have to pick on him for his faults. 

REFLECT-SHARE-ACT-PRAY. Choose a particular issue where you do not practice what you preach. Share with others and decide how to do it better.  Is it openness, being willing to forgive or about environmental behaviour?