Compared with our ancestors, or even our grandparents and parents, we have so much more knowledge and information available to us today. There has been an information explosion. But are we any wiser? Can we understand any better? In the more simple times in which He lived, Jesus remarked how people could "read" the sky and the wind to know what weather to expect, but were not able to "read" the events happening around them, and so understand God's action in the world. We think we know so much about our world, about other people: but do we know what is for our own good? We can be sure about what other people should or should not be doing, but do we know how to act rightly and justly and prudently ourselves?

The phrase Jesus used about 'interpreting the times' became a popular 'buzz-word' in the Church during and after the second Vatican Council 40 years ago. Have we Christians really learnt to "read" our world of today, including our personal worlds? What is the Lord saying to us, asking of us, both personally and as a community of brothers and sisters, through the events of daily life?

We have an obligation to seek justice, peace, truth, well-being and salvation not merely for ourselves but for everyone. Let me at least start with those nearest to me, in my family, at work and in civil society.