February 8.    Josephine Bakhita.  As a young girl she was sold on slave-markets in North Africa several times. Like other slaves she suffered severely from indignity and abuse.  Eventually she was taken to Italy by a caring family where she converted to Christianity and later became a nun.  Because of and through their suffering some people are blessed with a particularly strong love of God, a gift for which she has been canonised.  Although there is much more awareness of human dignity and rights today human trafficking is a modern form of slavery conducted for financial gain in many countries and in many forms.   Women and girls mainly who are exploited and used as sex slaves are particularly vulnerable. Like St Josephine suffering helps us to identify with Jesus, brings us closer to God and fills us with compassion to work for the alleviation of all suffering.    

Reflect, share. Scripture: O God, who led Saint Josephine Bakhita from abject slavery to the dignity of being your daughter and a bride of Christ, grant, we pray, that by her example we may show constant love for the Lord Jesus crucified, remaining steadfast in charity and prompt to show compassion. Prayer from the Mass on the feastday Mass.  Pope Francis:  The experience of mercy enables us to regard all human problems from the standpoint of God’s love.  MM 14.   JUBILEE.  Before the heart of Jesus, living and present, our mind, enlightened by the Spirit, grows in the understanding of his words and our will is moved to put them into practice. This could easily remain on the level of a kind of self-reliant moralism. Hearing and tasting the Lord, and paying him due honour, however, is a matter of the heart. Only the heart is capable of setting our other powers and passions, and our entire person, in a stance of reverence and loving obedience before the Lord.   DN –The Sacred heart of Jesus 27. Prayer and action :  Pray for a growing commitment to the love of Jesus and willingness to live his way. Choose appropriate action on the issue of Human Trafficking.