At the Johannesburg Archdiocesan Leadership Conference on 17 October I presented on the topic of Synodality and the Family – Becoming Eco-friendly Families, one of MARFAM’s core topics used in these THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY.

Daily Prayer for Mission Month October, Year of St Francis and upcoming Local Elections in SA.   Heavenly Father, during this Mission month, we praise and thank you for the gift of your love and the riches of your creation. As missionary disciples we answer your call to walk in the way of peace.  We lift up to you all leaders of nations. Grant them an open heart and a listening ear to hear the cries of the poor and the needy. Bless all missionaries, protect them from harm, strengthen their hearts in times of trial, and fill them with the joy of your Spirit. As we prepare for the elections and a renewal of society for the common good we acknowledge our shortcomings and faults. We hear the needs that call for help to build a united country under God, as a family of all the families of creation.  Mary, Mother of the Church and of the Rosary pray for us. St Francis, our model and patron saint of all of creation pray for us. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen

 October 19. SEE. Covetousness. Would people still today go to a priest to say, “Father, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me?”  Would they not rather go to a lawyer and take the matter to court?   What message would someone expect to hear from the Church?  Would it be the words of Jesus,” take heed and beware of all covetousness, for a man’s life is much more than what you own.”  Luke’s Jesus still speaks today against all envy and greed and Jesus warns still, “Don’t be trapped into legal disputes with family and friends.”  Luke especially challenges rich people to share with the poor in their need.   

JUDGE. Reflect, share, Scripture. Jesus told a parable, “A rich man’s land brought forth plentifully and he thought to himself, ‘I will build larger barns and store my goods. I will say to my soul, ‘take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” But God said to him, “Fool, this night your soul is required from you and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” Luke 12:13-21.   Pope Francis:  When people become self-centred and self-enclosed their greed increases.  The emptier a person’s heart is, the more he or she needs things to buy, own and consume. A genuine sense of the common good disappears. Obsession with a consumerist lifestyle, above all when few people are capable of maintaining, it can only lead to violence and mutual destruction.   LS 204. Pope Leo: 180. The various areas just considered— the search for the truth in public life, education in the digital environment, the transformation of work, the fragility of families and new forms of slavery—are not isolated phenomena. Rather, they reflect a common underlying issue, namely that if technology becomes the ultimate criterion, the human person risks being reduced to data, a cog in a machine or a commodity. If, however, technology is integrated with a wise perspective, it can become an instrument of growth, justice and fraternity. From this perspective, the Social Doctrine of the Church calls for shared responsibility. MH180-1