February 16. Be doers of the word and not hearers only.  Chris shared, “I remember once reading an article called Lifegiving that was genuinely “life-giving” to me.  It taught me that lifegiving is not only about having babies and issues around contraception. It refers to any positive, upbuilding kind of acts and relationships.  And so it certainly can apply to every family type too, widow, divorced, orphans and step-families. The question to ask is, “Does my choice or action improve the quality of the life of this other person on different levels, in a spiritual sense too.  Equally so, the way we deal with creation and nature can be either life-giving, e.g. providing water in places of drought, or it can be death-dealing e.g. not providing water, or farmers diverting rivers into their own property.” Often it is something in between, as there are seldom black and white answers or total consensus.   Becoming an eco-friendly family:  On the subject of water and its use do you consider yourself life-giving?    

 Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.   Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world.   James 1:19-27   Pope Francis: When media and the digital world become omnipresent, their influence can stop people from learning to live wisely, to think deeply and love generously.  The great sages of the past run the risk of going unheard amid the noise and distraction of information overload.  LS 47