April 8.  The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people and many died. Jacob belonged to his parish Justice and Peace group and worked in the prison too.  “That is for my sins” he used to say. “But that is where I am able to put a different dimension on Justice and Peace.  Yes people are guilty, some, not all, admit their guilt and I feel called to accompany them as they experience punishment on their journey towards repentance. I often see God’s mercy at work there. I’m also excited to have heard about a programme that exists of Victim-Offender dialogues.  And by the way why do snakes have such a bad image, not only in Biblical cultures but pagan and some traditional religions also have an unholy fear of snakes?”

Reflect, share and act. Scripture The people spoke against God and Moses. “Why have you brought us here? Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people and many died.  Then the people came to Moses and said “we have sinned.”   So the Lord said to Moses, “make a fiery serpent and set it up as a sign and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” Numbers 21:4-9   Pope Francis:   JUBILEE.   During the Holy Year I think of prisoners who, deprived of their freedom, daily feel the harshness of detention and its restrictions, lack of affection and, in more than a few cases, lack of respect for their persons. I propose that in this Jubilee Year governments undertake initiatives aimed at restoring hope; forms of amnesty or pardon meant to help individuals regain confidence in themselves and in society; and programmes of reintegration in the community, including a concrete commitment to respect for law.  SNC 9.  “The Lord has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour” ( Is 61:1-2). Jesus made those words his own at the beginning of his ministry, presenting himself as the fulfilment of the “year of the Lord’s favour” (cf. Lk 4:18-19). In every part of the world, believers, and their Pastors in particular, should be one in demanding dignified conditions for those in prison, respect for their human rights and above all the abolition of the death penalty, a provision at odds with Christian faith and one that eliminates all hope of forgiveness and rehabilitation. SNC10. Choose an act of love and sacrifice from the list, also published at www.marfam.org.za/lent