17th October.  Hypocrisy.  “Putting your money where your mouth is” was the topic of the J&P talk to the youth.  “How hypocritical are we?  Almsgiving is not just for show or to make a good impression.   When we come to meals, we must also purify our hearts as well as our hands if we are to share food & wisdom well. God knows what we think deep inside our hearts.” “How are we ?”really responding to the current crises of wars and conflict?”

Reflect, share, act. Scripture Give for alms those things which are within, and behold everything is clean for you.  Luke 11: 37-41.   Pope Francis:  Poverty creates the conditions for freely shouldering our personal and social responsibilities, despite our limitations, with trust in God’s closeness and the support of his grace.  Poverty, understood in this way, is the yardstick that allows us to judge how best to use material goods and to build relationships that are neither selfish nor possessive (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, Nos. 25-45). Message for World Day of the Poor 2017.  If we want to bring about deep change, we need to realise that certain mindsets really do influence our behaviour. Our efforts at education will be inadequate and ineffectual unless we strive to promote a new way of thinking about human beings, life, society and our relationship with nature. Otherwise the paradigm of consumerism will continue to advance, with the help of the media and the highly effective workings of the market.  LS 215. . Pray: Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in us the fire of your love, so that walking together we may renew the face of the earth