Morning reflection

Theme: “I have come that all may

have life and have it to the full.”

John 10:10

Social Justice Contact Meeting14 – 16 May 2014

We pause in silence as we reflect and pray…Isaiah invites us to find comfort and rest in the mysterious and

enfolding Presence who is always with us –

In quietness and trust shall be your strength… Isaiah 30:15

I have come that all may have life and have it to the full.

Sink into the word resounding in the whole of creation…plants and birds and stones and trees and sun… melt quietly into the word and become one with it…

I have come that all may have life and have it to the full.

Breathe peace into our troubled world and our frantic lives.

I have come that all may have life and have it to the full.

Celebrate the sacredness of life…It is the most central and clearest reflection of God among us.

I have come that all may have life and have it to the full.

All of us must care for life, cherish life, with tenderness and warmth…to give life is to open our heart, and to care for life is to give oneself in tenderness and warmth for others, to have concern in my heart for others. Pope Francis

I have come that all may have life and have it to the full.

No one can strip us of the dignity bestowed upon us by Jesus’ boundless and unfailing love. With a tenderness which never disappoints, but is always capable of restoring our joy, he makes it possible for us to lift up our heads and to start anew. May nothing inspire more than his life, which impels us onwards.

Pope Francis

I have come that all may have life and have it to the full.

We touch with our hands the humiliation, the suffering, the inhuman and degrading treatment inflicted on women, men and children by modern day slavery. We cannot remain indifferent to this reality…

Estrella Castalone, FMA Coordinator Talitha Kum, International Network of Consecrated Life Against Trafficking in Persons

I have come that all may have life and have it to the full.

We dedicate ourselves to the healing, recovery and reconstruction of their lives and work such that no human being will be subjected to such outrageous offense that tramples upon the dignity of the human person. This is the conviction that lies at the basis of our commitment to work against trafficking in persons.

Estrella Castalone, FMA Coordinator, Talitha Kum

I have come that all may have life and have it to the full.

I have always been distressed at the lot of those who are victims of various kinds of human trafficking … Where is your brother or sister who is enslaved? Where is the brother and sister whom you are killing each day in clandestine warehouses, in rings of prostitution, in children used for begging, in exploiting undocumented labour. Let us not look the other way. Pope Francis Evangelii Gaudiem 24 November 2013

I have come that all may have life and have it to the full.

On 24 April 2013, Rana Plaza, Bangladesh. Death toll 1100+ with 2,500 injured.

A headline that really struck me on the day of the tragedy in Bangladesh was 'Living on 38 euros a month'. That is what the people who died were being paid. This is called slave labour. Today in the world this slavery is being committed against something beautiful that God has given us – the capacity to create, to work, to have dignity…Pope Francis

I have come that all may have life and have it to the full.

We hold in prayer the thousands of Bangladeshi people affected by the collapse of Rana Plaza…

I have come that all may have life and have it to the full.

... an estimated 300,000 children are serving as soldiers for both rebel groups and government forces in current armed conflicts.

We hold in prayer children forced to become soldiers.

Jail for Sydney brothel manager

who treated women as 'machines

to make money' From: AAP July 05, 2013

Boarders beaten, kept as prisoners

May 17, 2013

I have come that all may have life and have it to the full.

Let us hold in prayer the women and men who have the courage to move through the court system.

What is called for, then, is a shared sense of responsibility and firmer political will to gain victory on this front. Responsibility is required towards those who have fallen victim to trafficking in order to protect their rights, to guarantee their safety and that of their families, and to prevent the corrupt and criminals from escaping justice and having the last word over the lives of others. Address of Pope Francis to new Ambassadors to the Vatican

13th December 2013

We hold in prayer the need for firmer political will and a shared sense of responsibility…

We realize the need to pool our resources, to create networks of collaboration among ourselves, drawing energies from the fact that by virtue of our significant presence all over the world, we are in an advantageous position for doing so. At the same time we recognize our need to establish linkages with the other sectors of our society.

Estrella Castalone, FMACoordinator - Talitha Kum

I have come that all may have life and have it to the full.

Let us hold in prayer all those who work together that ‘all may have life and have it to the full’.

ALL:

Gracious God, Source of all Life, May our minds be alive to arenas that invites us to new frontiers, to risk being disturbed and changed.

Inspire our collective efforts to safeguard human rights as we work in the name of the Gospel that ‘all may have life and have it to the full’.

We ask this Source of All Being, Eternal Word and Holy Spirit. Amen.