July 14. SEE. As they sat together the elderly women were discussing Confession. “After the long lock-down when churches were closed, we were then being encouraged to go back to communion and to confession. Even Mass attendance declined but I admit that I find it quite hard to go to confession. What sins do we oldies really have to repent about, as we keep on hearing in the Old and the New Testament readings in these days?” “I thought about that too and spoke to my spiritual director. I now see that for me a sense of sin is what I feel when I have done something to break a relationship, with God or someone else. For me it is not so much the act that you did but an inner sense that something, even one’s thoughts was wrong, bad or even at times distinctly evil.“ “For me, neglecting the degradation of the environment can be a sin.”
JUDGE. Reflect and share. Scripture. At that time Jesus began to upbraid the cities where most of his mighty works had been done because they did not repent. Matthew 11:20-24. Pope Francis: I would like to offer Christians a few suggestions for an ecological spirituality. Admittedly Christians have not always appropriated and developed the spiritual treasures bestowed by God upon the Church where the life of the Spirit is not dissociated from the body or from nature or from worldly realities, but lived in and within them, in communion with all that surrounds us. LS 216 Pope Leo: One of the objectives of building a civilization of love is authentic realism. This realism does not give up on changing the world; indeed, it starts by clearly identifying interests, fears, constraints and power dynamics, precisely in order to determine what can be achieved, and the measures needed to achieve it. MH 218
ACT AND PRAY. Reflect on what is realism and what is an ideal or ideology. Where do you stand? Pray the Prayer of St Francis for grandparents and the elderly. We pray for God’s blessing on the grandparents and elderly of our families and community, bless them with peace and contentment and an acceptance that their lives were well spent in your service. We ask St Joachim and St Anne, the grandparents of Jesus, to pray with us.
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