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The manna in the desert was a very concrete sign of God's special
providence for Israel at a difficult time in their journey. The
manna was a very special grace. The Book of Joshua records,
however, that the manna ceased and Israel had to begin to live
from the produce of the land. God's special providence manifested
through the gift of manna, had to give way to God's ordinary
providence, manifested through creation and nature. At the
beginning, they only had unleavened cakes and parched grain. This
must have seemed very poor fare indeed compared with the heavenly
manna. With hard work and diligence, however, the land would
eventually produce much better food - the milk and honey promised
by God: "a land flowing with milk and honey." This account of the cessation of the manna provides us with an enlightening parable for our spiritual lives. At times of difficulty we will indeed experience God's providence in the form of special graces corresponding to urgent needs. In the daily run of our lives, however, God's providence will be manifested in an ordinary way, through the sacraments of the Church, through our own prayer and Christian behaviour and, in times like Lent, through our practices of fasting and abstinence. Lord, may we experience Your gracious providence in the ordinariness of our daily lives. |
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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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