Jesus gave us a simple rule to follow “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 7:12

However following through on this instruction requires compassion and understanding.  We live in a world broken by sin, by war, by violence, by disease, by injustice, by discrimination.  St. James tells us “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.” James 2:8

When I teach little children about God and ask them who their neighbour is, they invariably talk about the person who lives next door to them.  I generally get puzzled eyes looking at me as I encourage the children to consider everyone as their neighbour.  I think one of the biggest problems we have in loving our neighbours globally is that we often do not understand their situation, their culture and their pain.

For example did you know that the deadly Ebola virus is spreading in Africa?  According to the Centers for Disease Control “the outbreak of Ebola has been ongoing in Sierra Leone since May 2014. This outbreak also affects Liberia and Guinea; to date more than 1320 cases have occurred in the three countries and more than 725 people have died, making this the largest outbreak of Ebola in history. At least three Americans have been infected; two are health care workers in an Ebola clinic.”  The affected Americans are now being brought to the US for care.

If a member of our family was affected with the Ebola virus, we would surely be praying to God for a miracle.  Our challenge as Christians is to remember that these neighbours in Africa are part of God’s family and so we must do for them what we would want done for ourselves.  Let’s pray for them as we would for a brother or sister in our own family, for they are part of our spiritual family!  Let us also pray that expert medical humanitarian aid can be provided to our African neighbours in need of assistance to contain this deadly disease and comfort and help the afflicted.

Violence and war are taking innocent lives all over the world.  I grieve every day watching the news reports of the wars in Palestine and Israel, Iraq, Syria etc. Let’s not close a blind eye.  If this very day there were rockets being fired at our homes risking our lives, what would we do?  We would likely pray for Jesus to save us, to protect us and to end the violence.  Would we not want our global neighbours to pray for us?  And so we must pray for others…every day!

BBC news interviewed some children in Syria so horribly affected by the war “and at some moments … some of them would stand up with indignation and say, “Every child has a right to be educated. All children should go to school. I want to play with my friends. I want my mother, my father, to be safe.”  We need to try to imagine their pain!  Full story here

Holy Lord, my heart aches for my brothers and sisters all over the world who are suffering and desperately need your help.  Please help us all Lord to understand that violence is never a pathway to positive and sustainable change.  Help everyone, especially those most in need of Your mercy, to understand that the path of violence is never Your holy will!  Help us to end wars, to reconcile and resolve our differences peacefully.  Dear Jesus , please stop the spread of deadly illnesses like Ebola and help us to help all those who are in need of humanitarian assistance.

Come friends of Jesus to the foot of the Cross of Jesus every day at 3pm in your local time zone to remember Your Holy Saviour Jesus Christ dying on the Cross for our salvation and pray for His mercy upon all souls.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17

God’s plan of salvation involves all of us!  God’s plan always requires repentance and prayer!  Saying we love our neighbour without praying for our neighbour is perhaps the greatest injustice of all!  If we can help our neighbour through charity and financial assistance, let’s do that, but let’s never deny one another the free gift of prayer.  Join the peaceful revolution that prays for the mercy of Our Holy Lord upon all souls every day at the time Our Lord Jesus died for us, 3pm; our global neighbours need our prayers!  Let’s prove we are Christians by our love and by our prayers!