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In today's Gospel, Jesus expounds on the Old Testament injunction
against killing, expanding and deepening our understanding of it.
We would not consider ourselves to be killers in the ordinary
sense of the word and so we can be complacent in the face of "You
shall not kill", perhaps even being somewhat self- righteous
since we may feel that such 'big' sins are not a part of our own
lives. Jesus, however, goes beyond the act of killing itself and the hurling of insults and points rather to the feelings of anger that are behind them. It is these feelings of uncontrolled anger against our neighbour that we are invited to address. Thus, Jesus expands the injunction against killing to warning against anger which results in the rupture or 'killing' of relationships. Hence, we are invited to look at our relationships with other persons, especially those which have turned sour and recall our vocation to live in peace and harmony with all our sisters and brothers. Yes, there may be times when anger will inevitably surface and we may go so far as to utter words or do things that will 'kill' some relationships but we cannot and must not leave the situation at that. We are called always to reconciliation, not just with God but firstly, with persons, including our enemies. Only then can we sincerely come before the Lord to present Him our offerings and prayers. Lord, make me a channel of Your peace. |
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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, with the committed help of all believers, the
scourge of poverty may come to an end, eliminating the
intolerable social and economic inequality in the world
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One might also say that poverty is the negation of economic and
social rights and that the poor who suffer from absolute poverty
are denied the most fundamental right which is the right to life.
The international community too is becoming progressively more
aware of the gravity of the problem and has declared solemnly to
fight and reduce extreme poverty by 2015. Besides, how can we not
realise the situation growing worse in spite of the increase in
available resources. The problem of unequal distribution of resources in its correct setting is an ethical one, since it is a problem of justice: the poor are in the first place victims of injustice. In the era of globalisation we can no longer tolerate a world in which the very rich live side by side with the poor, the property less who lack even the essentials with people who shamelessly waste what others desterately need. One of the more evident worrying consequences of this phenomenon is in fact the progressive increase instead of the decrease of inequalities, in both poor countries and rich countries, and between the North and South. Let us pray that the scourge of poverty may come to an end | |
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