August 18.  Angela faced the group with a difficult issue.  “Thinking of the gospel about the householder who went out to find labourers for his vineyard also makes me think of some of the people you find standing around on street corners. There is a genuine need for work and no work to be had.  Some men are looking for garden or building work.  You might find women beggars with a “rent-a-baby,” and others and girls as prostitutes, soliciting to earn money that way.  Sometimes girls are looking out for sugar daddies.”  “There are plenty of drug peddlers too, and other petty criminals.” “Beggars, street-kids and homeless people also form part of this sub-culture, living a degrading life that is miles removed  from the possibility of earning a decent living.”  Everyone was encouraged to go and consider these issues further with their children at home. 

The kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard.  Read Matt 20:1-16. 

Pope Francis.  Let us open our eyes and see the misery of the world, the wounds of our brothers and sisters who are denied their dignity and let us recognise that we are compelled to heed their cry for help.   May their cry become our own and together may we break down the barriers of indifference that too often reign supreme and mask our hypocrisy and egoism.  FM15