PRAYER MOMENT
Friday
20 February 2015
TO BREAK UNJUST FETTERS
Pause. Enter into the stillness of God
within.
Reading: “Fasting like yours will
never make your voice heard … what pleases me is to break unjust fetters and
undo the thongs of the yoke.” (Isaiah 58:1-9)
Reflection. The outward performance of
religion produces the opposite effect from what true religion is all about. God
invites us into an intimate bond with himself but men and women have often
invented ways of paying lip service to this relationship. Even in Isaiah’s day
people would go to the temple but then go home and oppress their workmen. In
Christian times the same takes place. People go to church but treat
oppressively those they have responsibility for. Our readings call us to
harmony between what we believe and what we do in practice. There is a
hypocrite lurking in all of us and it often shows itself. We believe one thing
and do another. We say we love one another but in practice our love is
restricted to those we choose to associate with.
Prayer. Lord, teach us to be true
to the gospel and to ‘the least of these brothers and sisters’ of yours. Help us undo the knots that hold us
from reaching out to others. Amen.
David Harold-Barry SJ
No comments:
Post a Comment