November 11.  We hear a lot about child trafficking, how these traffickers groom children to become prostitutes. There are complex questions there to be considered. Is that sinful for the children or for the traffickers? Or what about those men who use prostitutes, surely that is sinful?  The children are tempted with sweets, cell phones, clothes and are given drugs to make them addicts.  As they were not free to choose could their behaviour then be regarded as sinful? The school had sent a notice to families to talk to their children about trafficking and its risks, but of course the aspect of temptation and sin was not something the school addressed. Parents, as the first educators of their children, dare not lose out on doing their obligation to deal with the problem in a meaningful and merciful way. Temptations are not sins. 11 November is the feastday of St Martin of Tours – a bishop noted for his concern for the poor and also REMEMBRANCE DAY, remembering those who died in World War I, II and subsequent wars. is there not a war on children in our day?

Reflect, share, act. Scripture:  “But anyone who tempts children does a great wrong,” says Jesus. “Such people should be thrown away.” Luke 17:1-6.  Pope Francis:  Jesus affirms that mercy is not only an action of the Father, it becomes a criterion for ascertaining who his true children are. MV9.Good education plants seeds when we are young and these continue to bear fruit throughout life.  The family is the place in which life as the gift of God can be properly welcomed and protected against the many attacks to which it is exposed.  LS 213.  Eco-tip and prayer:   Creator God in this month of commemoration of loss and death comfort us in our pain and strengthen us in our understanding that you never abandon us and care for each of your creatures day by day.