November 13.  Taking Action. SEE.   Isn’t it true that in spite of all the strife, conflict and disasters that we see on TV every day we mostly carry on living as normal. We may give some money to a disaster fund or a charity out of a sense of obligation, or maybe guilt or compassion.  However, it seems that mainly when people have suffered a loss or are suffering from a particular disease that they are more prepared to take some action, maybe form or join a support group like COMPASSIONATE FRIENDS for those who have lost a child or SUICIDES ANONYMOUS  who have called in to the helpline when they are feeling out of control.     

JUDGE. Reflect, share, Scripture:  If they have the power to know so much that they could investigate the world, how did they fail to find sooner the Lord of all things?”  Wisdom 13:1-9.  Pope Francis : if the family in the light of faith accepts the presence of persons with special needs they will be able to recognise and ensure the quality and value of every human life, with its proper needs, rights and opportunities.  Pope Leo: Our relationship with life seems to be in crisis today. Everything that appears as a “limit” — incapacity, illness, old age, suffering, vulnerability — tends to be seen primarily as a defect to be corrected, rather than as a reality through which our humanity matures and opens itself to relationship. And yet we must remember that humanity flourishes not despite limitations, but often through them. The light of faith offers a perspective on reality that helps us recognize what we call the “contingency” of the things of this world. While it is right to strive to alleviate the suffering that marks human life, it is also wise to acknowledge our fundamental finitude, knowing that “religious experience, and in particular Christian faith, propose that we live, without oversimplification, this ambivalence between human greatness and limitation, interpreting it in the light of our original and fundamental relationship with God.” MH118

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