See notice for widowed retreat in Johannesburg on 22 November. “Is yoursaint a saint, yet?”

November 14.  Widowhood. SEE.    Widows are commonly written about in the Bible, primarily because of their vulnerability, rather than the fact that they are widows, have lost a spouse and maybe mourning that loss and learning to deal with the life experience.  Widowers too have to work through a process. For some this results initially in a state of confusion, a sense of helplessness  and inadequacy, at least for a time.  Gradually they may recover a sense of justice, seek compensation if there has been wrongdoing and become quite confident in their demands.  

JUDGE. Reflect, share, Scripture:  “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man and there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, “Give me justice. Vindicate me against my enemy,  Give me justice.”  The judge said to himself, because this widow bothers me, I will give her what she wants or she will wear me out by her continual coming. Luke 18:1-8.   Pope Francis When a society is willing to leave a part of itself on the fringes, no political programme or resource spent on law enforcement or surveillance systems can indefinitely guarantee tranquillity. This is not because inequality provokes a violent reaction from those excluded but because the socioeconomic system is unjust at its root.  EG 59 Pope Leo:  It is precisely within our limitations that the following find a place: compassion, as well as a sincere concern for the needs of others; a generosity that can emerge even in the midst of darkness and failure; spiritual experience and the worship of God. We see this at many moments when our limits become tangible: when we face rejection, when we suffer the illness or loss of a loved one, when we encounter our own weakness or failure. Mysteriously, it is precisely in such moments that we can discover a new wisdom, tangibly experience the closeness of others and encounter the presence of the Lord.  MH119

ACT AND PRAY. COMMUNAL PRAYER FOR THE DEAD.  God, Our Father, we remember in prayer those who have had a special place in our hearts and in our lives and are now no longer here with us.  We thank you Lord, for the gift of life we have shared together.  We ask forgiveness for the hurts we caused and forgive our loved ones too. Comfort us through the memories they leave us. May those memories give us courage for our journey into the future. Grant them a place of peace and joy in your kingdom where there is no more suffering and grief.  And when each of us is called to depart from this life, may we be reunited with them in eternal happiness. Amen