"Act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with your God"

1^st and foremost I am really excited about this Lenten period. Lent has always been a chore for me; giving up things, taking things on, battering myself into being a better person and not forgetting to pray, pray, pray.
However this Lenten period is one of real excitement. I get to... 

‘Prepare the way for the Lord’ and
‘Make straight His path’

(Mark 1:3-4)

In a different way to previous years, this Lent, I have you to share it with! We can learn from and inspire eachother and together stay on the right track. (No pressure guys!).

This year I have no intention, by my own efforts alone, of giving up things, taking on things, trying to be someone that I am not. No, this year I am going to be a man for God. Inevitably it will inspire me, through love, to be someone who...

 ‘Acts justly, loves tenderly and walks humbly with God’

(Micah 6:8)

This naturally, will lead to fasting, prayer and good works. What does this mean? To ‘act justly’ surely calls to mind all of the injustice in the world. The world around us is littered with oppression, unnecessary pressure, ill use of resources and an epidemic of abuse towards human rights. Are we so quick to forget that we are made ‘In the image and likeness of God’? (Gen 1:27)  So quick to forget that each one of us is, a ‘child of God’? (1John 3:1) This has always been preached by the Church, who brings to light the Gospel message of the inalienable rights of the human person:



(Cool Picture!)



‘Each one of us is a result of a thought of God, each one of us is willed, each one of us is loved, each one of us is necessary’.



(Pope Benedict 24^th April 2005).

     


I will, through the grace of God, 'Act justly', to bring about a world not confined by laws that restrict, but by a heart that says: ‘Yes lord you know I love you’. And Jesus will say in response ‘feed my people’ (c.f John 21:15-17). This is why the Church calls us to fast a little, to call to mind the struggle of those who hunger for what is right, to share, both our physical and spiritual food with others.

To ‘Love tenderly’ should be the pinnacle of all we do and say. Mother Teresa who dedicated her life to love said this:

‘Prayer in action is love, and love in action is service’.

I don’t think that we can be people who hide behind out faith. Instead, we are called to be radical in our love for others. Last year my Nan, the famous Granny Scott, passed away –  a truly tremendous woman. The eulogy I gave said that 'my Nan did not live her way through life but loved her way through life. What she received from the Altar she became. What was preached from the pulpit she lived’. So it is the love we receive from the table of sacrifice that feeds this world with what it so hungers for: LOVE!

'Walk humbly with your God’. If this quote doesn’t speak to us about how we approach God in prayer then I don’t know what will. This prophetic message given by Micah is fulfilled in Jesus when He calls God the Father ‘Abba’ meaning Daddy. Just as a child depends on the parent for everything we should seek to put our hope and trust in Our Heavenly Father because ‘He cares for us’ (1Peter 5:6).

So guys and girls, let us, in the words of Ghandi,

‘Be the change we wish to see in the

World’.

’Act Justly’ = FASTING

’Love Tenderly’ = ALMS GIVING

‘Walk Humbly with your God’ = PRAYER

St Maxilmilan Kolbe

"Only love creates"



Audrey Hepburn

"For a slim figure, share your food...
For lovely eyes, seek the good in people...
For an attractive face, speak words of kindness...
For poise walk with the knowledge
that you never walk alone"

Granny Scott



"Sharing is caring"

By Gavin Landers
19 + 6 years old
Seminarian of Salford Diocese
Currently studying in Valladolid, Spain