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In the Gospel, the use of spittle seems to us unhygienic and very
strange. Jesus was using the methods and customs of His time. It was not
that He necessarily believed in the efficacy of these but He had to win
the confidence of the man and He did this by doing what they expected of
a doctor to do. Today healing depends on the faith of the patient as much as on the diagnosis of the doctor and the drugs prescribed. We believe that Christ's touch has still its ancient power. We do well to remember how often Christ asked a sick person. Do you believe? Noah of the Old Testament believed in God. After the earth was delivered from the flood, the first thing that Noah did was to erect an altar for God. Deliverance from natural disasters, from war, from death, from illness, from fire, the Christian should immediately give thanks to God. The writer of Psalm 43, following on his escape from death, says 'I shall go to the altar of God, to the God of my joy'. Lord, I believe. You are my Lord and my God. Thank You |
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P R A Y I N G W I T H T H E C H U R C H
| INTENTION : |
That children will never again be obliged to participate in
any war, but may be freed from hatred and violence and may live, as
children should, enjoying friendship in their family, school and society.
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The international community is increasingly recognising the
vulnerability of displaced children in refugee camps. They are at particular risk
of being exploited by armed groups. As recruited soldiers children
suffer disproportionately from the general rigours of military life.
Younger children may have deformed backs and shoulders, the result of
carrying loads too heavy for them. Malnutrition, respiratory and skin
infections and other ailments are frequent, as are sexually transmitted
diseases, including AIDS. The use of child soldiers also has repercussion on other children who remain in the conflict area. The risk, is that children will be killed, detained interrogated, or subject to pre-emptive recruitment. We must not close our eyes to the fact that child soldiers are not victims and perpetrators. No matter what the child is guilty of, the main responsibility lies with us, the adults. To stop this abuse, no child under 18 should be recruited for or participate in war. There is simply no excuse, no acceptable argument for arming children. | |
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